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Photographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHIVI/ICIVIH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


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Couverture  endommagde 

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Couverture  restaur^e  et/ou  pelliculde 


I      I    Cover  title  missing/ 


D 
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Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 


I      I    Coloured  maps/ 


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14X 

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0 

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32X 


e 

6tails 
s  du 
lodifier 
ir  une 
ilmage 


BS 


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premidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbols  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE".  le 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN". 

Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
film6s  d  des  taux  de  reduction  diffdrents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
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de  Tangle  sup6rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite. 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  n6cessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mdthode. 


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.35 


The  Ascent  of  Life; 


OR 


THE  PSYCHIC  LAWS  AND  FORCES 


IN  NATURE. 


.    BY^. 


STINSON  JARVIS. 


»i 


Author  of  "Oriental  Travels,"  "  Doctor  Perdue,"  "Geoffrey  Hampstead.' 


•    •  • » 

*       alt 


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t.l  «, J 


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Wi,%\' 


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BOSTON : 

Arena  Publishing  Company, 

Copley  Square. 

1894. 


•  •    •••   •• 

•  •  f    •  •  * 

•  •  •    •   *  ■ 


CoPYniOHTBD,  1893, 

By  the  Akbma  Pubuihinu  Co. 

AU  righU  reterved. 


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s;;ss;;3tKS3r.jttTa 


II  turn,  I 


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^^\t  Work  tD^k^  00  off«n  rtlne  ia  t^t  (fleets  of 

i16<nfa(  Jmprc00ion0 
U  6;   pcrmieeton   dcdicaicd  fo 

v$o  foe  unconedouefs  taught  (gt  Btauf; 

of  $<r  o»n  ijafuM  w^ite  n^akinj}  a 

wottb  ric^  nh§  (o&<ts  llt&ts. 


\ 


PHEFACK. 


Hofon-  tluH  work  was  first  printed  as  a  scrioH  of  artioioH  in  Tlie 
AiTtiii  Ma;^;i/,iiio,  it  wuh  MtattMJ  that,  with  the  ex<-c|iti(iii  of  the 
factH  (rivt'ii  ill  icfcronco  to  the  incsiiH'ric  evpciiiiieiits,  tho  text 
was  iiitciKhMJ  to  l»f  |)iit  iiilt'iidf^alivt'ly.  U'hilo  sii|»|ilyiiij;  such 
ju'cMtfH  as  w»'it'  at  tlic  time  availalilf,  or  iiHlicalinix  the  sources 
from  \vhi<'h  they  iiiijilit  Itc  prociirod,  liio  author  dcsircil  to  hriiij^ 
forward  im|tortaiit  siihjcctH  for  discussion,  and  that  for  this  search 
in  an  iinina|i|)ed  rc^^ion  the  reader  slioiild  join  both  as  eoni|iaiii(jii 
and  critic. 

[n  res|MinHe  to  tliis,  a  laiije  nundier  of  people  liavp  eoniniuni- 
oated  assistiujjj  facts.  Their  letters  show  that  in  all  parts  of  tho 
Ignited  States  and  Canada  individu.ils  have,  to  some  extent, 
gained  a  pei,soii!il  knowledge  of  the  extraordinary  huin.in  faciiltiem 
here  referred  to.  Only  three  of  these  narratives  are  reproduced 
here  (Appendix  "('"),  hec.iiise  they  merely  reiterate  experiences 
or  experiments  alreaciy  de.ilt  with  in  the  te!\t;  hut  the  receipt  of 
all  this  corroboration  has  <lone  much  to  suggest  that  in  the  pres- 
ent condition  of  modern  tliui^^ht  this  work  is  not  ill-timed.  The 
second  publication  of  it  is  therefore  issued  to  the  public  under 
the  same  tcrma  as  the  first. 


New  York,  May,  1894. 


i.tmK.umi.-'Mi^f'»'.mm.v 


,     1, 


ill 


i  V, 

<i  ii 


I. 


CONTEXTS. 


CHAPTER  I, 


The  necessity  for  man's  further  evolution.  Personal  experiments  in 
hypnotism.  Tlieir  proof  of  tlie  existence  of  the  liuman  "  soul "  (?).  Clair- 
voyance carefully  tested.  Tlie  abilities  of  mankind  which  seem  as  if 
miraculous. 


CHAPTEK  11. 

The  clairvoyant  faculty  a  resident  one.  Does  not  travel  when  viewing 
distant  scenes.  The  dicta  of  Huxley  and  Spencer.  Max  Miiller  regard- 
ing the  "  religious  f.aculty."  The  alliances  of  the  animal  soul  with  the 
knowledge-principle  of  nature.  Nature's  methods  for  animal  guidance, 
and  the  "  homing  instinct,"  etc.,  explained  in  the  wordless  informations 
and  comprehensions  procurable  in  the  mesmeric  processes.  The  practi- 
cal uses  of  mesmerism. 

CHAPTEB  III, 

DifiSculties  between  religion  and  science  and  the  assistance  rendered 
by  study  of  soul  powers  in  the  mesmeric  processes.  The  necessity  for 
religious  views  to  conform  to  nature.  Religion  opened  to  science;  and 
the  necessity  that  science  shall  study  the  more  hidden  faculties  in  man. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  mesmeric  processes  in  the  domestication  and  taming  of  animals. 
The  languages  wldch  have  no  words.  "  Why  should  life  ascend  ?"  The 
animals'  correspondence  with  the  all-knowledge  principle.  The  point  at 
which  Darwin  was  halted.  The  ability  of  parental  ide.-ils  and  desires  to 
alter  form  in  the  embryo.  The  imaging  faculty  and  its  extraordinary 
powers.  Nature's  set  types  of  different  passions  as  portrayed  in  animal 
forms.  Alterations  effected  by  the  different  passions  and  phases  upon  the 
human  countenance  and  form  and  upon  generation.  Collection  of  medi- 
cal cases  cited  (see  Appendix  "A"),  showing  how  the  human  embryo  is 
altered  in  shape  and  in  every  way  by  the  presence  of  ideals  or  desires  in 
the  parental  mind  at  tlie  time  of  generation  or  after  conception :  •bow- 
ing also  that  the  physical  formation  of  children  is  materially  altered  by 
scenes  or  objects  viewed  by  the  mother  during  tlie  bearing  time.  The 
same  principle  carried  iv  to  the  study  of  evolution  in  showing  how  ani- 
mals thus  develop  physically  and  otherwise  according  to  the  mental  con- 
cepts and  sexual  vanities  which  are  prevalent  in  the  parental  mind  at 
time  of  generation  or  afterwards.  Why  life  ascends.  The  question  of 
Darwin's  life  answered.  The  wonderful  advance  which  study  of  the 
mesmeric  processes  brings  to  evolution.  The  correspondence  of  the 
creature's  sensorium  with  the  knowledge-principle  of  nature.  The  word- 
loss  comprehensions  of  the  mesmeric  processes,  and  the  knowledge  which 
is  gained  by  the  creature  when  its  sensorium  experiences  a  necessity. 
Proof  that  the  soul  never  forgets. 


II 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  "Life's"  capacity  for  vibration.  Mesmerism  a  mental  process 
producing  unity  of  vibration.  Tlio  mesmeric  vibratory  processes  in 
social  intercourse.  Their  ett'eits  in  unliappiness,  healt'i,  sympathy,  jias- 
sion  ami  love.  Music  a  lauguaj^e  ot  tlie  world  of  vibration.  Tlie  ques- 
tion as  to  wlii'tlicr  we  were  to  be  considered  as  mere  automata.  Consid- 
eration of  scuue  peculiarities  of  electricity  and  su^Kestions  derived 
therei'rom  as  to  the  "  Life."  The  chief  natural  method  for  sensitizinR 
the  animal  human  to  liiglier  grades.  Marriage  a  sacrament  and  altera- 
tive process  of  nature.  Tlie  mesmeric  i»roces8(!S  in  love  and  marriage 
traced,  and  tlieir  natural  uses  sliown.  Nature's  necessity  for  them,  in 
the  production  of  love  and  for  theailvance  to  tliO  iiigher  spiritual  grades. 
The  dreadful  elTects  of  ignorance  of  nature.  Those  high  grades  <)f  human 
life  concerning  which  Christ,  Buddha,  and  spiritual  men  of  all  religions 
agree. 

CHAPTER    VI. 

Man's  development  into  the  higher  life.  The  Buddhistic  soul-science 
considered.  Advance  of  happiness  necessitates  increased  capacity  for 
increased  vibration.  Tlie  phases  of  the  soul,  each  of  which  has  its 
speecli  and  expression  in  vibration.  Music  tlie  language  of  the  phases. 
How  a  musi<'ian  can  produce  any  phase  in  his  listener,  and  alter  such 
phases  at  will.  Advanceil  rehnement  is  advanced  capacity  for  vibration, 
whicli  is  — sensitization.  The  unhappy  consequences  of  regarding  (iotl 
as  a  sort  of  priest.  Heligion  a  phase,  a  tendency,  a  merging  of  the  soul; 
has  its  expression  in  tones  rather  than  words.  "  Life,"  being  a  vibration, 
is  controlled  by  vibratory  methods.  As  to  observance  of  nature's  laws, 
ac(|uiesieuce  is  a  song;  prohibition  a  dirge;  while  refusal  means  despair, 
discord,  madness.  The  etlects  of  determined  selection  of  discord  instead 
of  liarmony.  Suicide  from  unliappiness  when  unity  of  viluation  with 
nature's  instructing  sense  of  gladness  is  shut  out.  Heligion  a  holiness 
without  merit.  Prevalent  errors  regarding  "  merit"  in  religion.  A  study 
of  the  religious  phase.  Its  necessity  and  reality.  The  teaching  of  each 
individual  life  is  an  evolution  of  the  ideals.  Life,  emotions  rather  than 
words,  is  a  series  of  happy  achievements,  where  the  soul  tires  in  repeti- 
tion and  is  thus  driven  to  seek  continuous  advance.  The  evolution  of  the 
Ideals  sketched.  Wrong  teaching  in  regard  to  the  young.  Spiritual 
anachronisms.  The  development  of  the  soul  through  grief  and  sufleriug, 
and  its  power  for  supremacy  and  calm. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

How  the  vibratory  laws  control.  The  reason  of  the  immense  delays  in 
the  evolution  of  the  higher  forms  of  animal  life  and  of  intelligence  and 
wisdom.  Without  evolution  the  creation  of  intelligence  is  impossible 
without  miracle,  which  is  evidently  unknown.  Wisdom  and  individuality 
the  products  of  nature's  evolution.  The  God  of  nature  the  only  possible 
God.  Prevalent  apologies  for  nature  and  avoidance  of  it.  The  desire- 
force  of  man  compelling  the  immaterial  alliances  of  the  internal  faculties 
to  produce  invention.  No  human  creativeness  without  passion.  Buddha's 
understanding  of  human  nature.  The  extraordinary  alterations  and  de- 
velopment of  the  individuality  in  marriage,  through  the  mesmeric  inter- 
change. The  literal  gift  of  soul  to  soul.  The  alterations  on  both  sides 
traced.  Explanation  cf  the  true  cause  of  female  degradation  through 
promiscuous  associations.  Nature  insists  that  all  women  shall  at  times 
be  mesmeric  patients.  Oriental  teaching  regarding  the  "fantasies"  of 
life.    Soul-wisdom  and  holiness  Identical.    Powers  for  clairvoyance  and 


CONTENTS. 


UI 


revelation  through  dealing  witli  one's  own  interior  fucultics.  A  wonder- 
ful  (!a8c  of  tliis.  Tlie  i)iophetic  power  a  proved  reality  and  may  lie  culli- 
vated.  It  need  liave  notliins  to  do  witli  lioliness  or  piety,  but  may  lie 
employed  for  evil  uses,  (clairvoyance  and  prophecy  (luring;  nat'uril 
sleep.  The  Biblical  prophecies  considered  under  the  fu'rther  11^111.  The 
power  for  concentration  on  one  idea  j)ossessed  by  the  Jewish  prophets. 
The  laws  of  music,  and  the  passive  coercion  of  the  controlling  vibratoiv 
laws.  The  necessity  to  assist  the  development  of  one'.s  own  individu- 
ality. Life,  to  man,  a  (piestion  of  values.  Unless  it  gave  better  hai)r.i- 
uess  than  all  else,  religion  would  be  absurd.  Heligion  an  emotion  a 
merging  of  the  soul  in  the  Great  Gladness,  and  the  acquirement  of  the 
comprehensions  which  are  outside  the  processes  of  the  intellect.  The 
absurdities  of  intellectual  entanglements  which  destroy  happiness.  Ex- 
perimenting with  cathedral  music  to  realize  the  religious  phase.  The 
experiment  of  the  agnostic.  The  old  made  young  again.  "  And  the 
unquenchable  spirit  will  have  nothing  but  God." 

API'KNDIX  "a." 
(Reference  to  i>asi!»  44, 50,  and  others.) 
Synopses  of  numerous  medical  cases  showing  the  almost  unlimited  al- 
terations which  are  caused  in  the  human  end)rvo  by  the  mental  conditions 
of  parenls:~also  that  the  effects  here  illusti'ateci  and  proved,  inlluence 
generation  throughout  the  animal  kingdom:  — and  that  the  ev(dutiojis 
and  general  advances  of  all  animal  life  are  thus  chielly  dependent  on 
the  faculties  for  imaging,  idealizing,  and  desiring,  when  these  are  active 
in  the  parental  mind. 

APPENIHX  "  »." 

(Reference  to  page  93  anil  others.) 

Cases  cited  where  dreams  were  subsequently  enacted  during  the  wak- 
ing state.  References  to  Chapter  VII.  concerning  the  soul's  ability  to 
foresee  coming  events. 

APPENDIX  "c." 

Accounts  of  personal  experiments  in  mesmerism,  and  as  to  the  clair- 
voyance of  mesmerized  patients  selected  from  those  sent  in  to  tlie 
author  by  unknown  correspondents,  since  the  first  publication  of  this 
work  in  the  Arena  Magazine. 


■r 


'.  I 


null   WliNli'iTi  iwiHHmii  iii'llllli    iiliiiiwil 


Chapter   I. 


Onk  truth  is  apparent,  that  life,  from  its  lowest  to  its 
highest,  is  a  succession  of  ascents,  a  succession  of  grades  or 
plateaux,  each  one  iuteniiingiing  with  its  commencing  edges 
in  the  plane  below  and  with  its  later  or  upper  edges  merged 
in  the  plane  that  is  next  above  it. 

To  students  of  natural  history,  this  is  already  sufficiently 
clear.  The  advances  from  the  fish  to  the  amphibian,  and 
from  this  to  the  animal,  and  later  on  to  man,  besides  others 
too  numerous  to  mention,  all  indicate  the  continuity  of  the 
principle  of  improvement. 

The  question  therefore  arises  :  Is  nature  to  be  expected  to 
cease  its  order  and  sequence  as  soon  as  it  lias  produced  the 
human  grade?  If  man  remained  exclusively  an  animal  in 
all  his  instincts  and  passions,  the  necessity  for  the  question 
would  not  be  so  apparent.  But  wlien  we  find  in  human 
beings  evidences  of  still  higher  planes  of  existence  —  which 
alter,  control,  and  eradicate  the  animal  disposition — then 
we  have  to  consider  whether  nature  will  proceed  with 
the  same  sequence  and  order  which  she  has  exhibited 
throughout. 

What,  then,  is  the  next  higher  plane  of  life  that  is  found 
in  us  side  by  side  with  the  animal?  Wliat  is  this  in  us 
which  is  neither  fish,  flesh,  nor  fowl?  Nature  keeps  every 
one  interested.      She    has   developed   her   silvery   fish,  her 

1 


^--■aiJwiwiiMiiMfc'  MsM 


m^iHmimtiiMmiibm 


2 


THE   ASCENT   OF   LIFE. 


myriad  iridescent  birds  and  l)eetles,  l.er  monstrous  winged 
lizards,  her  huge  aiiinuvls,  lier  iiuiuisitive  monkeys,  and  then 
the  student  of  herself,  with  a  searching  brain  —  a  thing  that 
looks   for   God.     Tlie  question    arises:    Is   she   giving  him 
that  which  he  looks  for,  or  at  least  the  next  advance  towards 
what  he  seeks?     We   find  that   no  living  thing  ot  nature 
has  ever  instinctively   craved    for   anything    unless  it  was 
proi)er  for  it  to  do  so  ;  and  the  fact  is  suggestive  while  we 
.seek  an  answer  to  the  question.     There  are  indications  that 
nature  has,  for  our  own  world,  produced  enough  of  swim- 
ming, crawling,  flying,  leaping  things  — has  dealt  suthciently 
with  materials,  and  is  now  allowing  man  to  see,  partly,  how 
her  processes  deal  with  essences.     Wherever  there  has  been 
life,  .she  has,  from  the  earliest  times,  dealt  with  these.     But 
now  the  indications  are  that  she  is  parsing,  with  us,  to  the 
grades  wherein  she  has  less  use  for  cumbersome  machinery. 
Man's  place  in  nature  is  therefore  at  an  interesting  stage. 
As  he  progresses  from   the  physical  plane   into   the    next 
higher  grade  of  existence,  it  is  clear  that  nature  intends  to 
increase  continually  in  beauty  and  charm  as  she  leads  him 
delightedly  on.  .  . 

Most  people,  whether  educated  or  not,  believe  in  their 
possession  of  souls.  This  belief  is  brought  home  as  a  truth 
in  many  ways.  Some  seem  to  hold  it  on  mere  hearsay. 
Others  refuse  it  for  equally  unsubstantial  reasons.  ^^ 

Those  who  claim  that  the  soul's  existence  is  "not  proven 

have  a  right,  for  themselves,  to  say  so.     This  means  that  it 

has  not  been  proved  to  them.     The  agnostic  must  be  taken  at 

his  word.     When  he  says  he  is  ignorant  in  regard  to  certain 

questions  it  must  be  accepted  that  he  is  so.     On  this  que^ 

tion,  some  people  seem  to   have  possessed,  from  childhood 

upwards,  such  a  lucidity  of  intelligence  (coupled  with  natural 

purity)  that  they  have  never  doubted  their  intuitions.     But 

no  one  can  be  expected  to  form  his  life  on  other  people  s 

intuitions;  and  the  agnostic  is,  in  a  way,  a  general  assistance 

when   he  refuses  to  believe  in   any  postulate,  the  truth  ot 

which  has  neither  been  realized  by  his  intuitions  nor  scien- 

tifically  proved  by  experiment.  , 

Science  has  not  produced  this  proof.  The  reason  is  clear. 
So  far  as  it  has  yet  advanced,  science  is  confined  by  its  own 
methods  to  the  material.  It  is  true  that  its  best  thinking 
has  tried  to  explain  thought  and  memory.    But  in  all  its 


„«IBM««SfflsB«&«Bii««S»»«*»»""B»»» 


THK   ASCENT   OK    1,1  KK. 


3 


approiu^lit's  to  tl»e  immati'iial  it  lias  si<riially  failed,  and 
iimst  of  necessity  fail  us  loii^r  as  it  is  limited  "to  its  luesent 
methods. 

This  inability  of  learned  men  to  assist  and  •M]\vn\  nature's 
best  develoi)ments  by  their  scientitic  thou^dit  and  processes 
has  had  results  that  were  both  benelieial  and  disastrous.  |{y 
pnMlucinjr  the  mental  attrition  of  the  a^n;  it  has  led  to  enor- 
mously valuable  resnlt.s;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  has  been 
exactly  what  criminals  desired.  AlthoUf,di  scic^nce  has  imt 
denied  some  fundamental  truths  of  reli^nons,  its  a,i(nostici>;m 
has  jriven  opportunity  to  low-grade  men  to  jumf)  to  the  con- 
clusion that  no  higher  world  than  the  animal  one  existed. 
The  truth  is  that,  with  its  present  ajjparatus,  scienc(!  has 
been  almost  iis  unequal  to  proving  the  higher  grades  of 
existence  as  the  criminals  themselves  were.  Further  lament- 
able results  followed  when  the  above-mentioned  failure 
divorced  many  best  of  men  from  tliat  which  had  been 
formeily  a  part  of  their  highest  happiness. 

Science  makes  sure  as  it  goes.  Nothing  in  the  histoiy  of 
the  world  has  Imjcu  more  useful  than  its  inexorable  demand 
for  certainty.  IJut  there  are  other  methods  of  gaining  cer- 
tainty besides  those  which  science  has  hitherto  utilized. 
Ciicumstantial  evidence,  wlien  complete,  removes  doubt 
quite  as  thoroughly  as  direct  proof.  lie  who  knows  of  no 
soul  has  a  right  to  demand  that  its  existence  be  juv.vcd. 
But,  in  the  ordinary  couree  of  nature,  soul  (meaning  its 
sympathies  and  range)  is  only  api)reciable  by  soul.  Tlu;  dilli- 
culty  has  l)een  to  make  soul  appreciable  to  intellect.  This 
can,  to  some  limited  extent,  be  done.  The  existence  of  the 
soul,  and  also  some  of  its  powers,  can  be  proved  with  all  the 
certainty  whi(;h  .science  requires.  For  the  material  intellect 
to  understand,  when  unassisted,  the  range,  sympathies,  and 
peculiarities  of  a  higher  plane  of  natuie  is  not  "to  be  expected. 
It  would  be  like  expecting  a  fish  to  understand  an  anqjhibian. 
The  amphibian,  Iwing  partly  fish,  might  explain  as  best  he 
could,  but  liis  land  experiences  must  remain  a  comphite 
blank  to  the  fish,  except  in  the  form  of  almost  inciedible 
heai-say. 

If,  then,  soul  can  be  known  to  soul,  Avhy  has  .science  not 
discovered  some  of  the  powers  of  one  soul  upon  imi>ther? 
That  some  individualities  influence  otheis  is  believed  l)v 
many,  and  to  be  expected  by  all.     But  how  to  place  the  soul 


T 


I     I'l. 


'     ^i 


4  THE   ASCENT  OF   LIFE. 

in  position  to  subject  it  to  scieiitilic  examination  has  been  a 
tUnieulty.     The  strangely  frrotescjue   visions  ot  the    ligliter 
forms  of  sleep  cannot  l)e  classilietl  In^cause  we  do  not  umler- 
stand   the  extent  to   which   the   soul,  with    its   marvellous 
lowers  for  knowing,  is  being  liberated.     The  vagaries  pro- 
duced by  automatic  brain  sensations  during  incomplete  sleep 
are  evidently  of   no   importance,   and   merely   resemble   or 
reproduce  with  exaggeration   the  more  prevalent   thoughts 
of  waking  moments.     Hut  there  is  a  depth  of  sleep  at  which, 
when  reached,  strange  things  happen.     Perhaps  all  people 
have  had  sufficient  pei-sonal  experience  of  this   to  provoke 
inquiry.     If,  therefore,  the  deepest  of  all  sleeps  can  be  artih- 
cially  produced,  we  then  have  the  human  soul  in  such  a  con- 
dition that  at  least  some  of  its  powei-s  may  l)e  scientilically 
inquired  into.     It   must  tell   of   itself   through  the  mouth 
of  its  possessor.  ,       .         .   .       i 

There   have  already   been  many  investigations  into  i)lie- 
nomena  of  this  kind.     Hut,  except  in  France,   the    results 
have  been  unsatisfactory.     There  are  at  least  three  grades  ot 
mesmeric  sleep;  and  while  a  patient  may  converse  readily,  he 
may  be  in  one  of  the  less  profound  degrees  of  sleep,  in  which 
the  greatest  intelligence  is  not  shown.     In  the  presence  of  a 
party  of  curious  and  perhaps  tiilkative  scientists  with  whom 
the  patient  had  no  habit  of  sympathy,  he  would  naturally 
retain  certain  degrees  of  that  protective  alertness  which  m 
the  lighter  grades  of  sleep  is  ready  to  awake  us  when  any- 
thing unusual  occui-s.     This  alertness  during  sleep  is  present 
and  on  watch,  with  human  beings,  especially  women,  and 
with  all  animals,  especially  the  more  timid,  when  the  faculty 
has  not  been  obscured  by  overeating  or  the  like.     In  experi- 
ments such  as  above  mentioned  it  might,   in  cases  where 
women  are  the  patients,  prove  a  barrier  to  the  most  success- 
ful results  when  sympathies  and  confidences  have  not  been 

established.  •     i.      i-  „ 

Any  results  from  experiment  which  are  more  instructive 
than  those  obtainable  in  crowded  drawingrooms  can  only 
be  arrived  at  when  the  patient  has  unlimited  confidence  in 
the  actuator  and  is  entirely  willing  to  trust  him  with  soul, 
will,  and  even  life  itself.  In  such  ease  the  interior  pro- 
tective alertness  is  dispensed  with  by  the  will  of  the  patient. 
But  the  slightest  timidity,  or  what  is  called  "  nervousness, 
at  the  presence  of  unknown  strangei-s  and  antipathetic  mdi- 


-iiK».«BW«Ne*t^^-?:*'».-- 


.V.u»-m«St»a*'«»»«^^Mti«*««*»r4*«^  ^-rtli6™u.'^Hk6WWaBBS49aSfe^'',T<»!Se«^^ 


THK    AHCKNT   <)K    lAVK 


r> 


viclualitics,  would,  I  iinatjiiic,  have  its  ctTfct.  Coiiscviucntlv 
till)  ii(!tU!itnr  may  i)nKliici'  ii  <rvMlv  (tf  sice;,  anil  cuiitnil 
tli()iit,'lit  ami  remove  the  upiK'aniiico  (»f  IxMiijf  awake,  and  yet 
—  end  at  tliis.  Tims  Ik;  doi.'s  not  pnidnee  in  the  patii-nt 
that  deeper  j^nude  of  sleej)  in  which  tin-  soul  wilh  its  wonder- 
ful attributes  may  he  incjuired  into.  And  this  condition 
cannot  he  arrived  at  unless  holh  the  hody  and  its  immaterial 
keeper  are  completely  in  the  power  of  the  actuator. 

Space  is  heie  devoted  to  explainino-  why  some  sciiMitists 
have  failed  to  discover  in  mesmerism  as  much  as  has  heeii 
claimed  for  it;  thouji-h  it  must  he  rememheri'd  that  most  of 
the  phenomena  meiitione<l  in  this  work  have  for  yeais  heeii 
known  to  the  scientists  of  Paris.  An  iiivesti<,'atioii  was  held 
at  Edinhurtfh,  and  the  men  enjTaned  in  it  were  skilled  in 
.scieutillc  and  material  methods.  The  class  of  experiments 
were  of  the  simplest,  such  as  beginners  try,  and  in  their 
report  they  in  some  way  attributed  what  they  saw  to  the 
effect  of  "suggestion"  on  the  mind  of  the  patient.  Any 
one  who  has  gone  far  in  mesmeric  experinumts  nuist  regrdt 
that  these  investigations  were  not  more  satisfactory. 

But  what  is  this  process  in  natiu-e  called  mesmerism  or 
hypnotism?  To  say  it  is  the  effect  of  soul  upon  soul  or 
mind  upon  mind  tells  but  little.  We  lind  it  in  avMy  condi- 
tion of  human  intercourse.  In  business,  in  i)reaciiing,  in 
the  social  life,  and  throughout  the  animal  kingdom  it  is 
everywhere  present.  We  are  all  mesnierizers ;  though  the 
majorities  are  better  adapted,  through  comparative  weakness 
of  individuality,  to  be  patients  rather  than  performers. 
Those  who  are  powerful  of  will  and  soul  rule,  in  a  word- 
less but  thoroughly  compelling  way.  The  majorities  know 
their  superiors  and  are  ruled. 

One  paragrai)h  on  drawingroom  phenomena  may  l)e 
inserted,  even  though  the  reader  may  have  witnessed  them 
often.  Two  people  of  strong  will-power  secretly  preariange 
some  simple  act  for  the  patient  to  jierform.  They  then  place 
their  hands  on  the  shoulders  of  a  third  person  who  is  (piite 
ready  to  submit  to  the  silent  influence.  If  the  two  perform- 
ei-s  concentrate  their  will-power  in  coercing  the  patient 
towaicls  doing  what  was  prearranged,  she  will  soon  move 
forward  as  if  of  her  own  volition  and  obey  the  silent  direc- 
tion. This  simple  experiment  is  mentioned  because  it  illus- 
trates  the   fii'st  uses  of   a  power  which,  if  increased,  will 


TIIK    AMCKNT   OK    LIFK. 


jiroduce  what  appears  to  Ix)  alui'i*,  ivnd  all  grades  of  sleep, 
even  to  tlie  traiut'.  It  is  also  ineiitioiuid  Ix-iause  it  places 
before  those  wlio  know  nothing  of  mesmerism  a  simple  form 
of  it,  regarding  wliieh  all  parties  ean  satisfy  themselves  liy 
trial.  And  it  is  of  imporUmce  that  everybody  sbonld  be 
convineed  of  the  reality  of  at  least  a  few  eft'eets  of  will- 
power, because  witiiont  some  acciuaintanee  with  it^s  subtle 
and  silent  influences  the  largest  part  of  human  life  is 
inexplicable  and  chaotic.  Julius  Cjesar,  Honaparte,  His- 
marck  —  no  commander  of  men  can  1h'  uudei-stood  without 
it.  The  necessity  of  tiie  knowledge,  for  pei'sonal  safety,  and 
in  unnumlwred  other  ways,  cannot  Im  too  strongly  urged; 
and  this  little  drawingroom  performance  scientifically  proves 
a  great  truth  —  that  human  beings  may  Ihj  coerced  into  per- 
fornung  an  infinite  nund)er  of  acts  by  the  unspoken  direction 
and  command  of  other  people's  wills. 

And  if  the  experiment  be  carried  a  sUige  further,  that  is 
to  say,  after  the  vibratory  sympathies  are  thus  first  thor- 
oughly established  and  the  mind  of  the  i)atient  has  become 
entirely  submissive  and  trustful,  iben  the  performei-s,  or 
rather  the  actuatoi-s,  may  find  thai  ihey  can  exercise  their 
wills  with  the  same  effects  on  the  patient  from  a  distance. 

It  will  be  seen  that  no  attempt  is  made  to  explain  these 
things  at  this  stage  of  the  work.  Some  facts,  effects,  and 
results  nuist  first  Ihj  given,  and  then  the  reader  can  see  the 
deductions  to  Ihj  made  therefrom. 

Such  words  as  "  mesmerism  "  and  others  are  used  merely 
to  explain  intended  meanings  to  readei's.  Except  for  this 
[)urpose,  they  are  misapplied.  It  has  l)een  proved  that  the 
power  here  referred  to  has  nothing  to  do  with  magnets  or 
magnetizing,  which  words  originated  in  one  of  Mesmer's  im- 
postures. Yet  the  word  "  mesmerism "  is  used,  instead  t)f 
hypnotism,  etc.,  because  it  gives  more  people  an  idea  of  what 
is  meant.  Unusual  words  make  difficult  reading,  and  the 
attempt  here  is  to  render  the  subject  as  clear  as  possible.  So 
much  will  l)e  difficult  to  believe,  that  to  imjjose  an  unneces- 
sary tax  would  be  a  mistake.  Readers  are  invited  to  come 
as  fellow  searchers  into  a  region  which  is  so  trackless  and  so 
little  reduced  to  the  geography  of  thought  that  it  is  here 
approached  with  diffidence  and  sense  of  solitude.  It  is 
probal)le  that  those  who  have  experienced  a  lifelong  hunger 
for  knowledge  will  agree  that  the  urgency  of  our  necessities 


11 


-«».v-JSS«.*t»eS&lSJS««!a(B»>ss*r-J«.ii^\r«»tSSS5j«»Si^ 


TMK    ASCKNT   OK    l-IFK. 


prevents  m  frnin  niiicli  foiisidciiiijr  (lie  sonm"  of  our  knowl- 
»Mljr,,  so  loiijj  iiH  kiiowlcdjre  cnmcs.  Kxc«'|.t  lis  to  tho  fiictw  of 
till!  writer's  oxpcriimMits,  this  work  must  lie  uiidei-stooil  t<i  Iw 
|»ut  interrogatively,  ami  solely  as  an  ajipeal  to  the  reader's 
sense  of  the  prolwible.  That  which  leaps  into  the  heart  as  a 
truth  will  there  create  its  own  dogma;  and  this  it  the  only 
kind  of  dogma  which  is  desired. 

No  one  regards  the  toaeliings  of  science  regarding  man, 
togetljer  with  his  religions,  the  histories  of  his  developing 
moralities  and  the  progress  of  civilization,  without  Iwing 
oppressed,  at  the  end  of  it  all,  hy  the  sense  of  how  little 
one  knows.  Kxcept  hy  the  scientists  of  I'aris,  hypnotism 
hius  been  so  denounced  as  a  delusion  that  this  chapter  must 
face  a  great  deal  of  prejudice.  All  that  can  he  said  is  that 
if  any  one  practises  the  same  experimiiuts  as  here  shown  he, 
too,  will  necessarily  have  sulliiuent  faith  to  removo  at  least 
his  own  mountains  of  prejudice. 

It  has  taken  the  writer  many  yeai-s  to  muster  sufficient 
courage  to  face  in  public  print  this  overwhelming  prejudice. 
He  has  not  l)een  exceedingly  biave  over  it.  Ever  since  the  . 
first  discoveries  the  knowledge  has  been  continually  added ' 
to  —  not  by  further  experiments  (except  in  one  case),  but 
owing  to  the  fact  that  an  insight  into  some  of  the  more  or 
less  hidden  processes  of  nature  explains  an  extraordinarily 
large  number  of  human  affairs,  and  has  thus  assisted  in 
revealing  many  peculiarities  of  life  which  are  elsewhere 
referred  to  in  this  work. 

Another  impediment  to  earlier  publication  will  be  readily 
underatood.  The  experiments  were  chiefly  impromptu  — 
resulting,  usually,  from  conversation  on  the  subject  and  the 
curiosity  of  the  patient  leading  towards  a  desire  for  trial. 
F]xcei)ting  the  masculine  patients,  these  were  ladies  of 
refinement  and  social  position  ;  so  that  the  writer  felt  unable 
to  produce  testimony  in  support  of  his  own.  The  inability 
to  give  the  names  of  patients  might,  to  outsiders,  suggest 
deception.  This,  however,  has  been  in  part  remedied  by  late 
correspondence.  If  satisfied  that  it  is  in  any  way  necessary 
for  scientific  reasons,  one,  and  perhaps  two,  who  assisted 
towards  the  most  advanced  phenomena  will  corroborate  the 
statements  as  to  the  experiments,  over  their  own  signatures. 
This  is  mentioned  merely  to  show  that,  if  necessary,  further 
proof  can  be  given. 


8 


Till*.    AS«'KN"r   OF    MKK. 


WliiUi  uii«U'istiiiMliii<,'  tl'i^  <liniciilty,  tlio  ivikUt  will  iilsi. 
trl.Mii  tliiil  llioiv  is  niiiili  I'oivf  ill  tlu'  «l<'«iri*  to  ii'wr  (lu- 
ivsiilis  nf  tlifs."  cxiK-riiiu'iils.  Till!  I'xt iiinnliiiiU v  tiullis  m- 
V(.lvt<l  ill  tlif  <lis.»)Vfrii-.s  liiivt-  uiKi^'l  'i"  «'Vii.si<.ii  t.l'  obwliU'lfH 
wiiiili  woiiltl  l)lnik  pnigri'ss  to  tlio  ik-Miml  end. 

Tlif  following  iwit'il  «'''  t''*'  'nHl'o''"  oxiK-riiiiciils  will  l>«' 
i.mdr  ill  the  liist  poison.  It  will  Hound  t..o  t.f,'oislic  ;  l.iit  to 
deal  Willi  iiiiiny  [lU^'eH  of  exiu'iiinunt  in  any  otlii-r  way  would 

sftiii  strained.  , 

Aiiioii^'  my  Ihst  cxiK-rinu-nts  was  thai   one   in   wliicli  a 
ftJi'lain  law  i'.lriU   was  tlio  [.aru'iit.     Ho  w as  (.f  a  kind  <lis- 
uositioii,  very  li(»iu-st,  and  possfssinn  a  tasU-  tor  music.     Il»- 
was  wiitin^r,  ,„ic   day,  about  i'iKl't    fi't't   from   uw.      1   sat 
Loliiiid  him  ami  partly  t..  oiio  side.     Tlie  idea  canui  to  nic  to 
sec  what  could  he  accomplished  without  contact.     I  eoiiceii- 
fatcd  my  will  oil  making  him  stop  writing.     After  a  Ko"d 
deal  of  elTort  on  my  part  he  hiid  his  pen  (h.wn  helore  hiui 
an.l  sat  hu.kint?  at  the  paper.     He  did  it  so  naturally  -  as  il 
ho    were   tired'   writing— that  I    thouKht  it  a    mere   coiuci- 
.h'Mce.      Then    I  silently  ordered   him  to  contiiiuo  writing. 
lie  did  so.      And  then   I  seesawed   him,  each  way,  hall  a 
do/cn  times,  niilil  there  could  he  no  dimbt  he  was  oheyiiiK 
inc,  thou.irli  slowly.     I  afterwards  explained  what  I  had  been 
doiiiL',  and  he  was  interested. 

Subsequently  we  had  a  number  of  different  trnds.  Ajipar- 
entlv  he  never  passed  into  the  deepest  sleei),  though  not 
ivmiiiniii'T  fully  awake.  His  eyes  usually  remained  i.artly 
open,  and  he  seemed  to  be  in  one  of  those  half-way  conditmiis 
such  as  those  to  which  I  have  previously  referred.  In  tlii.s 
phase  lu!  readily  took  the  impressions  of  my  own  mind  and 
.oiild  witiujss  any  scene  I  memori/.cd.  In  one  of  the  ui)p(!r 
rooms  of  the  oliices  we  met,  by  appointment,  on  Sumhiy 
afternoon.  Here,  when  he  was  under  the  intluence,  I  W(.uld 
show  him  various  scenes  in  foreiKH  countries.  I  took  liim 
through  E-rvi.l,  Syria,  Athens,  Rome,  etc. 

As  to  this  patient,  I  have  no  means  of  knowing  whether 
or  not  he  was  actually  clairvoyant  as  in  the  cases  oj  other 
patients.  My  method  was  simi.ly  to  say,  "  What  do  you 
sec'"  repeatedly,  until  he  commenced  to  describe  the  scene 
I  had  lixcd  my  'mind  on.  And  yet  ho  often  saw  more  than 
J  saw  or  was  thinking  of.     For  instance,  when  I  was  bring- 


Vl 


THK    AsrKNT   n|."    f.Ili; 


0 


iiif»  In  luH  view  lilt' oln-liNk   in  front   ol'  '^l.  rctci's   nt    K'nnii'. 

Ili^  cnmniflU'iMl  Witll  :l  »K'srHli||Mi|  nl'  llu'  ;,'rrilt   (i\iil    llltilili'  III 

|iilliif,s  wlui  }i  siirnKiiids  (|)»f  pia/./.;t  in  I'roiit  of  llu-  (■iillnilnil. 
I  was  Htmrk  in  tliis,  U'i'iuimc  I  was  not  tliiiikiiiL,'  ol"  tlicsi^ 
[lillius  hill  only  (ti  tlio  i)l)eli«k  Itxolfj  Ilowt'Vt'r,  my  niin<l 
may,  unconsiioiisly  to  mysi'lf,  liavc  taken  in  tlif  pillars  also; 
jnst  lis  a  spoctator  in  xifii  would  wliilc  viewing,'  tin'  olicliNk 
almost  nocussiirily  iiifliuU)  somo  tif  tliese  in  iiis  view. 

It  was  inhiit'slin^'  I'or  hotli  of  ns.  I  liinj  a  t|nanlily  of 
|ilioto^raplis  with  me,  ami  wlnii  I  ronscd  liim  aflir  cacli 
nxporimcnt  he  wonid  run  over  the  pirtnns  nnlil  lie  (  ainc  lo 
tlio  sccno  lut  liad  witnessed,  when  lie  would  immediately 
reeo^ni/,(!  it  and  hand  it  to  me.  It  will  lie  reeolleeted  that 
there  wero  no  words  used  on  my  part  exeepL  my  ont-  <inestion, 
"  What  di)  yon  see  ?  "' 

in  early  i)oyhood  I  was  mneh  taxed  liy  that  hihlieal  story 
of  Christ  lu'lufr  taken  to  iiii  cxeeedinj^  hit;h  mountain  hy  the 
devil  and  heinir  shown  all  the  kine'doms  of  the  earlh.  lint 
now  I  found  that  I  eould  do  sonu'thin^f  similar  myself.  My 
patients  were  almost  as  pleased  as  if  I  had  taken  them  hodily 
to  the  foreii^n  sceiuis.  I  (h'vised  the  experiments  with  the" 
photojfrapliH  in  order  lo  provide  a  eertain  amount  of  proof  of 
what  the  patient  saw;  Iteeause,  until  then,  I  eould  not  he 
sure  that  he  was  not  deserihini,'  scenes  in  woids  tliat  my  own 
eon(;entralion  in  sonni  way  forced.  His  n coirnition,  after- 
wards, of  the  photoj^raphs  ideared  any  douht  on  this  point; 
lhoii<fh,  as  to  this  particular  patient,  I  am  not  prepared  to 
say  that  lie  witnessed  anything'  more  than  was  in  my  own 
tniud.  He  may  not  have  heeii  in  a  sutlicic^iitly  deep  sleep  to 
l)o  what  is  called  clairvoyant,  hut  perhaps  inercdy  in  that 
condition  in  which  minds  can  1h!  read.  The  ])liase  was  evi- 
dently similar  to  that  exliiltile(l  l»y  tlit;  widely  known  and 
proved  ex[»erimeiits  of  Mr.  Stuart  Cumherlaiid,  who  pos- 
scssimI  the  faculty  of  puttinjf  himself,  while  awake,  into  a 
condition  in  which  he  discerned  the  whereahouts  of  an  ohji'ct 
U|)OU  which  a  spectator  lixed  his  mind. 

Hut  whether  the  cl(Mk  was  or  was  not  clairvoyant  (in 
ways  subsequently  described),  matters  litlh^  for  this  experi- 
ment. That  is  to  say,  wliether  he  saw  the  actual  scenes  or 
whether  he  saw  them  only  in  my  memory,  a  marvellous  facit 
is  disclosed  —  namely,  that  there  is  a  power  within  us  which 
is  capable  of  knowiug  not  only   the   wishes  of  others  but 


•  jfeiaMiiK8iiam.^^rie^M4MA«ta^sgg;a!^  " 


10 


THE    ASCENT   OF    LIFE. 


also  of  viewing  any  scene  wliich  is  in  tlie  actuator's  mind  ; 
also,  that  tliis  power  is  capable  of  establisiiing  a  mental 
correspondence  betwoen  human  beings  in  which  words  are 
inineeessary. 

Now  the  reader  will  see,  after  a  moment's  thought,  that 
the  necessary  outcomes  of  this  extraordinary  fact  are  iniinite. 
It  proves  what  materialists  refuse  to  believe,  namely,  that  we 
have  within  us  a  facult;^  for  acquiring  intelligence  from 
without.  I  cannot  give  names  to  these  existences,  because 
to  me  they  seem  unnamable ;  but,  for  want  of  better  lan- 
guage, it  may  be  said  that  the  soul  or  mind  of  one  pei'son 
can  l)e  invaded  by  other  souls  or  minds,  and  be  taught  and 
uplifted  in  a  way  that  really  enforces  a  teaching  and  eleva- 
tion beyond  the  patient's  power  of  resistance.  The  assist- 
ance and  confirmation  which  religion  may  gain  from  similar 
proofs  is  immeasurable ;  and  it  explains,  among  many 
other  things,  how  we  always  feel  uplifted  and  strengthened 
when  in  the  society  of  the  best  of  human  beings. 

The  fact  must  be  emphasized  that  any  man  of  some  will 
power  and  concentration  can,  with  a  suitable  patient,  arrive 
at  the  same  results.  To  give  any  one  the  idea  that  the 
powers  described  were  peculiar  to  myself  would  do  much  to 
nullify  the  effect  of  my  work.  Readers  will  sympathize 
with  the  desire  to  publish  the  phenomena  without  incurring 
the  imputation  of  being,  or  pretending  to  be,  peculiar. 
When  an  experimenter  of  the  above  kind  shows  a  suitable 
patient  "  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth,"  it  is  not  necessary 
for  him  to  be  the  devil  —  but  merely  acquainted  with  some 
powei-8  which  all  men  possess,  though  ignoi-antly. 

This  power  in  men  which  is  capable  of  influencing  others 
without  bodily  contact  and  without  their  knowledge  of  it, 
and  which  possesses  the  abilities  here  described,  is  a  purely 
natural  existence.  That  is  to  say,  with  every  human  being 
it  is  just  as  much  part  of  himself  as  his  foot  is. 

If  one  wishes  to  underetand  life  as  it  is,  and  also  the 
deductions  which  follow  from  the  showings  of  mesmerism, 
one  nnist  keep  the  last-mentioned  fact  in  view.  Without 
the  teachings  of  mesmerism,  human  existence  is  almost  a 
chaos.  With  this  knowledge,  and  the  extensions  of  it,  all 
life  becomes  one  marvellous  uniformity.  Before  the  reader 
has  completed  the  perusal  of  this  work  he  will  see  that  the 
principles  of   nature   here  dealt  with  are   not  confined  to 


THE   ASCKNT   OF    LIFK. 


11 


human  life, —  but  that  they  exist  in  all  grades  which  are 
lower  than  the  human  one,  and  tliat  tlieir  proniLsc  is  that 
they  will  contiiuie  on  in  similar  unliroken  sequence  of  de- 
velopment until  after  lifk  has  ceased  to  he  regarded  chietly 
with  reference  to  its  1  umanness.  For,  in  the  consideration 
of  LIFK  as  a  whole,  it  will  he  gleaned  tluit  its  human  hour  is 
hut  a  stage  in  its  development. 

Par  parenthene,  a  word  must  be  inserted  here  to  remove 
any  impression,  which  the  second-above  paragraph  might  give, 
that  this  work  is  produced  from  a  materialistic  stiindpoint. 
It  will  be  quite  clear  before  the  last  page  is  reached  that 
this  is  not  the  case.  Yet  fii-st  impressions  are  lasting;  and  I 
do  not  wish  the  reader,  whether  he  Ije  religious  or  material- 
istic, to  become  prejudiced  as  we  go  along,  but  to  leave  his 
opinions  in  abeyance.  Opinions  prove  nothing  —  facta  are 
what  we  need.  In  our  present  develo^jment  there  is  no 
religion  without  some  materialism,  and  it  may  be  guessed 
that  there  are  few  materialists  Avithout  some  religion.  Simi- 
larly, in  this  work  there  is  as  much  materialism  as  nature 
insists  upon,  but  also  as  much  spiritism  as  nature  may  be 
proved  to  contain. 

On  the  other  hand,  materialisfc*  must  not  say,  "  Oh,  if 
he's  going  to  talk  about  spirit  life,  that  ends  my  reading!  " 
Unprejudiced  students  of  human  nature  (if  there  are  any) 
have  no  doubt  been  intensely  materialistic  at  some  times,  and 
at  other  times  have  believed  in  the  siiiritualities.  This  is 
natural,  and  not  for  the  sake  of  knowledge  to  be  deplored.  With- 
out the  necessaiy  materialism,  wrong  religion  may  grow  wild. 
Without  religion,  materialism  may  grow  brutal.  Both,  un- 
less intermingled,  have  sometimes  run  to  the  absurd.  As  to 
the  word  "spirit,"  which  I  have  been  unwilling  to  use  at 
this  stage  of  this  woik,  I  will  say,  that  if  my  materialist 
friends  can  explain  my  experiments,  or  their  own  similar 
ones,  without  a  belief  in  the  human  spirit,  then  this  word 
may  be  removed  from  our  mental  vocabularies  forever. 

I  do  not  here  relate  the  experiments  in  the  order  in  which 
they  came  to  me,  but  rather  in  the  sequence  which,  proceed- 
ing by  degrees,  will  least  tax  the  credulity  of  the  reader. 
Doubtless  some  of  the  minor  ones  have  been  forgotten,  and 
as  to  the  more  important,  I  will  only  mention  one  or  two  of 
each  class,  because  one  perfect  proof  is  as  convincing  (if 
belief  be  at  all  accorded),  as  many  wearisome  repetitions. 


v»£ia»-»a!iA'a*te^!imaai^'a»^^^?j^SS^itfc  ■' 


12 


THE    ASCENT   OF    LIFE. 


A  larjre  number  of  iniiior  nmtters  were  tested,  which  went 
no  fuitiiLT  towiiids  iiiDof  of  tin;  existence  of  sonl  than  tlie 
al)ilities  of  the  hiw  ckiik  as  ;il)nve  <U'seiibe{l.  For  instance, 
one  patient  was  peculiarly  (luick  at  niiniinj,'  and  describing 
objects  which  I  had  dosed  in  boxes,  jars,  <«■  other  receptacles 
which  may  be  found  in  drawingnioms.  When  the  patients 
were  in  the  deei)  slee[)  they  sat  u[t  in  the  same  attitude  in 
which  they  had  ))een  c(»n versing,  tlamgh  sometimes  they 
rested  partly  against  the  back  of  their  chairs.  During  the 
exi.eriments,  when  tliey  were  iutenlly  searching  with  their 
iiiteiior  faculties,  the  head  was  always  inclined  somewhat 
foiward,  as  people  generally  sit  during  mental  effort. 

The  attitude  was  nearly  always  that  of  a  person  trying  to 
read  a  l)ook  that  is  hehl  at  a  distance.  Generally  the  eyes 
were  lightly  closed,  or  half  closed;  but  sometimes,  when  all 
will-foR-e  was  bi-ing  api)lied  to  compel  towards  the  seaicli  for 
something  dillicult  to  lind,  the  eyes  would  open  in  a  w'ide, 
unseeing  w  ay.  At  these  times  they  focused  on  nothing  in 
the  room.  There  was  no  intelligence  in  them,  and  of  course 
no  sight,  for  the  body  was  so  beieft  of  sensation  during  the 
tranc'e-like  eondition'that  I  have  no  doubt  it  could  have  been 
cut  to  pieces  without  pain  to  the  patient. 

The  appearance  of  the  wide  eyes  was  inclined  to  be 
slightly  alarnung  at  lirst.  Yet  there  was  no  resemblance  to 
ins^uiity  in  their  appearance.  Tliey  were  simply  a  blank; 
and  perhaps  only  oiiened  because  the  eye  muscles  ol)eyed  the 
eouuuand  to  ''look  ami  see."  Then  sometimes  the  face 
would  strain  foiward  slightly,  the  eyebrows  pucker,  and  the 
eyes  open  blindly  — all,  no  doubt,  as  i)art  of  the  bodily 
hal)it  of  the  effort  to  see.  Any  stranger  coming  into  the 
room  could  not  have  known,  except  by  the  eyes,  that  the 
patient's  condition  was  peculiar.  If  his  entry  did  not  dis- 
turb the  condition  (and  I  do  not  know  what  the  effect  of 
this  wouhl  be)  he  would  have  found  them  conversing  in  an 
ordinary  tone  of  voice,  sometimes  a  litth  wearily,  as  if  they 
were  tired  of  their  own  effort;  and  at  other  times  with 
interest  in  what  they  saw,  and  with  a  rai)id  precision  of 
speech  and  a  wealth  of  detail  which  could  leave  no  doubt 
that  they  actually  saw  what  they  descril)ed.  It  was  as  if 
one  i)er.son  standing  in  a  room  explained  to  a  l)liiid  man 
that  which  was  going  on  in  the  street  outside  —  with  this' 
dift'erence,  that  the  patient,  besides  seeing  all  the  details  of 


!■: 


:t..V, 


THE   ASCENT   OF   LIFE. 


18 


motions  and  costumes,  etc.,  could  know  also  the  thoughts  of 
the  people  she  was  describing.  But  when  I  write  this  last 
sentence  I  am  getting  on  too  fast. 

Of   course    we   soon  tired  of   all   the   experiments   with 
secreted  articles.     Anything  I  picked  up  in  the  drawingroom 

and  secreted  in  books,  boxes,  or  jai-s  would  be  described 

sometimes  so  instantaneously  that  I  could  almost  believe 
that  the  patient  had  watched  what  I  was  doing  and  was 
playing  a  trick.  The  patient  I  now  speak  of  sometimes 
went  into  the  deepest  of  sleeps  in  a  moment  —  certainly  in 
less  than  four  seconds,  possibly  in  less  than  two  —  when  she 
was  anxious  for  a  successful  experiment.  Very  often  I 
could  not  believe  that  she  had  passed  into  the  trance. 

Marvellous  as  they  aire,  we  soon  thought  very  little  of 
these  minor  experiments,  because  the  patient  might  be 
simply  reading  my  own  knowledge  concerning  the  secreted 
articles.  She,  however,  denied  that  this  was  so,  and  claimed 
that  she  saw  into  the  box.  No  doubt  tliis  was  correct,  for 
she  described  more  than  I  knew — for  instance,  the  position 
of  the  object  in  the  box,  which,  after  I  had  shaken  it,  I  did 
not  know.  I  wished  to  devise  some  way  to  test  her  sight  as  • 
to  the  appearance  of  an  object  I  was  unacquainted  with. 

I  will  relate  only  one  experiment  of  the  following  class. 
To  me  it  was  a  great  triumph;  for  it  proved  that  she  did 
not  acquire  her  knowledge  by  reading  my  mind.  In  the 
city  I  saw  a  friend  handling  some  coins.  I  asked  him  to 
lend  me  an  old  one  with  its  date  still  clear,  and  to  hand 
it  to  me  wrapped  in  paper  so  that  I  could  not  know  the 
date.  He  did  so,  and  on  that  day  I  called  on  the  patient 
and  told  her  what  I  proposed  to  do.  She  saw  the  import- 
ance of  the  idea.  I  laid  the  coin,  still  wrapped  in  its  paper, 
on  a  table  apart  from  both  of  us.  She  was  so  interested 
that  when  I  turned  and  said,  "  Now  go  off  and  tell  me  the 
date,"  she  replied  almost  instantaneously.  Yet  in  that 
moment  she  had  passed  into  a  deep  sleep.  I  think  her 
reply  was  "Seventeen  ninety-five."  I  thought  she  was 
merely  guessing,  and  was  still  awake:  because  she  replied 
as  soon  as  I  spoke  my  direction.  But  I  had  to  command 
her  waking  before  she  resumed  the  normal  state  again. 
Then  I  unwrapped  the  paper,  which  I  wished  her  to  see  me 
do.  As  I  did  so,  her  interest  in  the  experiment  seemed  very 
slight.     She  knew  — she  took  it  for  granted,  that  her  reply 


■■^mmm^m^^^^gtmi«^sxis-£imi^^s^mmK^mm^m:- 


14 


THK   ASCENT   OK    lAVE. 


I: 

I' 


had  been  right.  She  knew  she  liad  seen  the  coin.  Before 
an  ex{)<  vinicnt  she  often  (h)ul)le(l  her  powers.  After  an 
exjierinient,  and  while  still  partly  sleepy,  she  evidently  took 
it  for  granted  that  the  power  witliin  her  could  not  go  wrong. 
The  flate  on  the  coin  was  th(^  one  she  .stated.  After  the 
lai)se  of  so  many  years  I  cannot  be  certain  of  the  date  that 
was  on  that  particular  coin.  1  think  it  was  1705,  but  this 
is  immaterial  —  whatever  it  was,  she  told  it  right. 

This  was  a  .simple  experiment,  but  it  was  the  first  one 
which  could  be  connected  in  no  way  with  my  own  knowl- 
edge. It  was  my  first  absolute  proof  to  myself  of  the 
existence  of  a  soul.  I  should  mention  that  this  pnutf, 
which  to  me  had  such  unlimited  meaning,  and  which  in  its 
method  was  so  scientific  and  conclusive,  was  taken  by  the 
patient  as  a  matter  of  course.  She  .seemed  to  experience  no 
surprise.  With  hei',  in  her  extreme  purity  and  refinement, 
the  reliance  on  soul  intuitions  seemed  to  be  an  every-day 
occurrence;  though  apparently  she  thought  no  more  of  it 
than  I  would  of  taking  an  undnelhi  with  me  wlien  the 
atmosphere  piomised  rain.  For  instance,  several  times  when 
I  wiis  ])roceeding  towards  her  home  to  make  an  unexpei-ted 
call  I  have  met  her  on  the  way.  When  I  spoke  of  the  meet- 
ing being  lucky,  she  saw  no  element  of  chance  about  it. 
She  would  say,  "  I  knew  you  were  coming,  so  I  put  on  my 
hat  to  come  out  and  meet  you." 

"  Hut  how  did  you  know  ?  "  I  would  .ask. 

"I  cannot  exjilain.     It  came  to  me  that  you  were  just 

(•rossing S(iuare,  and  that  you  were  coming  to  call. 

So  here  I  am.     I  knew  just  becaH.se  I  knew  I" 

Now  these  last  words,  which  thousands  of  men  have  heard 
from  thousands  of  women,  contain  the  truth  of  the  soul 
knowledge.  She  "  knew  just  because  she  knew."  This  is 
{]u'  kind  of  statement  that  science  abominates,  and  which 
makes  men  look  blaid<ly  interrogative,  and  Avhich  women 
appreciate.  Unless  their  animal  nature  has  been  built  up 
till  their  souls  are,  as  it  were,  walled  in,  women  use  theii' 
soul  knowledge  more  frequently  than  they  use  their  teeth 
for  eating.  It  is  so  simple,  so  correct,  so  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  education  ;  it  makes  so  many  who  are  called 
c(mnnon  women  so  beautiful. 

Hut  this  is  a  wide  subject.  Let  us  return  before  it  lures 
us  too  far  from  the  straight  line  of  our  task. 


IJ, 


THE  ASCENT  OP  LIFE. 


16 


res    » 


There  were  many  interesting  mind  voyages  taken,  and 
described  in  minute  detail,  by  my  patients;  but  as  I  could 
not  afterward  prove  what  people  were  doing  —  say,  in 
Europe,  at  a  certain  hour  —  I  do  not  set  out  these  liere 
because  I  could  not  verify  them.  Yet  although  tliese  are 
useless  for  the  purposes  of  this  treatise  (being  without 
proof),  I  may  mention  one  or  two,  merely  to  show  the 
methods  I  adopted  and  the  oddness  of  the  results. 

When  I  wished  to  ask  regarding  any  friend  who  wa.s 
travelling  in  Europe  I  would  Hi-st  send  the  patient  to  the 
sleep.  To  do  this  I  never  used  "  passes,"  liaving  regarded 
them  as  a  foolish  survival  of  Mesiiier's  charlatiiinies; 
although  they  may  perhaps  assist  in  rendering  the  mind  of 
a  patient  submissive,  by  giving  him  the  idea  of  force  being 
exerted.  I  simply  sat  quiet  and  "willed"  the  patient  to 
perform  some  little  action,  such  as  to  open  or  shut  the  eyes, 
or  turn  the  head  sideways.  If  I  could  not  soon  procure 
obedience,  I  ceased  trying,  because  the  continued  strain 
tired  me.  Sometimes  the  patient,  without  obeying  as  to  the 
shutting  of  the  eyes,  would  pass  into  the  sleep  first.  But  let 
us  take  the  one  I  am  now  thinking  of  and  suppose,  as  in  her 
case,  that  she  had  gone  into  the  sleep  immediately.  I  describe 
the  search  for  one  person,  then  in  Europe  —  an  old  friend. 

I  would  say,  repeatedly,  "Do  you  see  her?  Where  is 
she?     Look  for  her!" 

Then  the  patient  would  perhaps  lean  forward  with  a 
searching  look  on  her  face  and  say  slowly,  "  I  can't  see  her. 
I  can't  see  her  anywhere !  " 

"  But  you  must  see  her.  You  must.  Look  for  her! " 
(Pause.) 

"No!  I  see  faces  —  multitudes  of  faces,  and  strange 
shapes  —  but  not  her!     What  stj-ange  shapes!  —  all  misty!  " 

"  Well,  for  whom  are  you  looking  ?  " 

"  Why,  for  Dorothea  Brooke,  of  coui-se.  She  is  the  one 
you  wish  me  to  see." 

(The  patient  would  always  name  tlie  right  person,  though 
his  or  her  name  had  not  been  mentioned  or  referred  to.) 

Then,  after  a  while,  and  after  much  effort,  she  would  see 
the  person  sought  for,  and  say:  "Oh,  yes!  now  I  see  her. 
She  is  sitting  in  the  window  of  a  large  house.  It  is  a  hotel, 
I  think.  There  is  an  awning  outside  the  window.  She  is 
looking  down  into  the  street  below.     Such  an  odd  town  I  — 


16 


THE   ASCKNT   (»F    LIFE. 


houses  80  (lueerly  built!  There's  a  hing,  narrow  street  be- 
loT  Aud  1  suppose  those  are  caMrivers,  aren  t  they? 
What  wretched  horses  they  have  !  " 

''  And  what  is  Dorothea  thinking  ot .-' 

u  She  is  thinking  about  whether  she  will  go  out  for  a 
walk  and  about  a  new  cloak  she  has.  Oh,  there  is  her 
motti'r  (The  patient  had  not,  if  1  recollect  rightly,  ever 
Ten  "  Dorothea  s"  mother;  but  she  described  her  as  accu- 
ratclv  as  if  she  saw  her  in  the  ordinary  way.) 
•^u^er  mother  is  talking  to  her  about  going  out  for  the 
walk      Now  her  mother  is  moving  away  from  her.     f>he  has 

%.e^:^r'^:Srw«u;d,  m  U.  way  this  redtal  indicates^ 
be  described  calmly,  and  with  interest,  if  anything  interesting 
was  t^  be  seen,  and  with  amusement  if  the  people  said  any- 
TiL  fiuiny.  Sometimes  I  could  make  a  guess  at  the  city, 
bv  the  way  it  was  said  to  be  built,  or  otherwise. 

My  patients   had   some  European  and  oriental  tnvvel  at 
exSingly  small  expense,  though  ^  to  the  whereabouts  of 
aruaintS/ces  in  those  regions  I  was  never  able    o  verify. 
T^rtelitness  of   the  patient  on  the  scene  and  her  vivid 
description  did  much    to  suggest  that  she  saw  all  she  de- 
scribed.    As  to  picturing  my  acquaintaiices  who-jh^ad 
not  heiore  seen  she  never  made  a  mistake.     In  one  case  it 
took  a  long  time  to  find  a  certain  man.     But,  when  found 
hei  contideLe  was  absolute.     "  He  is  on  a  r^lway  tran.,    she 
said      "The  train  is  now  going  over  a  bridge.       fehe  tnen 
described  the  progress  of  the  train,  and  what  it  was  passing, 
wTth  a^  muclfcalm  and  uninterested  certainty  as  could  be 
Cnd  in  any  brakeman   on   board  the   tmn.     I  oiily  half 
proved  this  Le.  so  I  will  not  mention  it  further      My  friend 
was  travelling  between  Chicago  and  New  York  about  that 
time  but  could  not  rememl)er  the  exact  day. 

A  I  have  said  In^fore,  1  gave  up  these  experiments  years 
agMor  a  number  of  reasons  ;  chiefly  because  1  thought  it  w^ 
the  exercise  of  an  undue  power,  partly  because  I  never  could 
be  entirely  certain  that  in  every  case  it  was  safe  for  the  mud 
of  te  patient,  and  partly  because  I  had  proved  a  1  1  could 
thi,  k  o  So,  to  tak^e  the  teachings  in  their  order  of  advance, 
bu  not  in  their  order  of  time,  1  pass  now  to  my  latest  expe^. 
ment,  which  took  place  two  years  ago,  and  wiU  then  return 
to  the  earlier  ones. 


i^jrfij 


Tin-:  ASCKNT  or  iavk. 


IT 


In  June,  1801,  I  wiis  nitlior  niixidus  aljout  a  fiiciid  who  at 
that  time  was  living  in  one  of  tlio  most  lumott!  of  iliu  Unittul 
States.  The  distaneo  was,  I  think,  between  two  and  three 
thousand  miles.  But  distanee  makes  no  ditt'eienee  for  these 
experiments.  I  was  sitting  talking  to  a  clever  woman  cue 
evening,  and,  as  the  conversation  swung  around  to  some 
point  tliat  suggested  the  i<lea,  I  asked  her  if  slie  would  tell 
me  how  my  friend  was.  I  ex[)lained,  and  she  consented 
readily.  I  did  not  think  she  would  prove  a  satisfactory 
patient,  because  she  possessed  so  much  personal  force  and 
individuality;  but  she  contributed,  by  her  own  will,  towards 
submission.  It  was  the  first  and  only  time  I  ever  mesmer- 
ized her,  and  the  results  were  astonishing — even  to  me. 

It  took  her  a  long  time,  after  passing  into  the  sleep,  to 
find  the  friend ;  and  tlien  the  same  certainty,  as  before  de- 
scribed, reigned.  She  seemed  to  lirst  approach  the  iiouse 
over  the  town,  because  the  locality  struck  her  as  being  an 
unpleasant  place  to  live  in,  and  she  described  it.  Then  her 
account  of  what  she  saw  was  like  this:  — 

"She  is  sitting  at  a  table  writing  a  letter.  It's  to  you,  !• 
think.  Wait!— yes!  —  it's  to  you!  I  can  see  over  her 
shoulder.  It  is  addressed  to  you.  She  has  her  back  to  me. 
I  am  at  the  window.  Such  a  wind  blowing  through  the 
room!  Oh,  my,  such  a  wind!  It  is  blowing  her  dress,  and 
making  the  light  almost  go  out.  Now  she  hears  her  sister 
coming  in.  Oh,  what  a  bright,  clever  face  that  sister  has ! 
So  bright  and  full  of  fun.  She  is  telUng  a  joke  —  wait!" 
Here  the  patient  sto[)ped  and  laughed  quite  heartily.  She 
had  never  seen  the  sister,  but  described  her  most  accurately. 
At  the  time,  no  recollection  of  the  sister  was  with  me, 
and  in  any  case  my  mind  was  merely  receptive.  I  simply 
sat  and  listened  —  not  having  to  ask  any  questions,  for  the 
patient's  usual  eloquence  and  curiosity  were  with  her  as 
much  as  ever,  and  she  missed  nothing,  apparently. 

"  Oh,  I  do  like  that  sister !  "  she  continued.  "  Very  tall, 
isn't  she?  Not  pretty  —  at  least  not  very  so  —  but  a  nice, 
good,  humorous  face  —  so  clever!  Now  they  are  both 
laughing  together." 

The  patient  described  it  all  fully,  and  then  grew  weary 
and  said  her  head  ached.  Other  patients  have  also  spoken 
of  their  "heads  growing  tired,"  when  the  trance  is  pro- 
longed.   I  always  woke  them  and  ended  the  trial  when  they 


i^i^^^mmmm 


M 


18 


Tlir.    ASCKNT   OK    I-I1'I'„ 


i   ji- 
11^ 


said  tliis  T  did  not  know  what  this  lu'iidaclie  might  mean, 
and  I  wished  t..  he  on  thu  safe  side,  i  was  working,  at  these 
tinu-s,  in  a  trackless  region  — feeling  conlidentof  myself  and 
of  the  patients  as  long  as  they  did  everything  hai-inly;  Imt 
when  their  pleasure  in  witnessing  the  strange  scenes  began 
to  end,  I  always  woke  them  up.  I  told  tliis  patient  to 
remend)er  all  s'he  saw,  heeanse  unless  this  is  done  tliey 
iorget  when  they  awake  what  they  have  seen.  She  was  m 
the  (h-e|.est  of  sleeps,  and  as  I  did  not  Imrry  her  waking,  it 
took  her  some  time  to  do  s...  At  first  she  had  no  remem- 
brame  of  what  she  had  seen  ;  hut  gradually  suggested 
parts  of  her  visi.m  to  her,  and  tlieii  slie  recalled  the  whole 

of  it  distinctly. 

This  experiment  is  not  put  forward  because  it  contains 
proof,  because  it  does  not.  It  is  mentioned  in  this  place 
because  it  leads  up  in  some  ways  to  the  linal  and  conclusive 
pro..fs.  Tiie  reader  will  understand  that,  beyond  writing 
„i>e  letter  in  this  case  asking  (piestions  to  veriiy.  I  really 
cared  very  little  for  verilieation,  because  at  that  tune  1  knew 
from  the'proved  experiments  and  from  the  demeanor  ol  tlie 
i)atient  that  she  could  be  making  no  mistake.  \V  hen  a 
patient  is  not  to  be  relied  on,  lier  own  doulit,  as  shown  in 
l.er  answej-s,  will  be  apparent.  P>ut  when  she  is  in  tlie 
deepest  slcei.,  and  linds  the  pei-son  searched  for,  there  is  an 
intense  vividness  and  lucidity  about  all  she  deseriljes  which 
I  think  could  leave  no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  any  observer. 

1  liave  thrown  the  explanations  of  methods  used  and 
appearances  produced,  etc.,  into  previous  experiments,  so  as 
to  leave  the  conclusive  proofs  short  and  unsurroundecl  by 
the  verbiage  which  may  distract  attention  from  the  luain 
point.  1  give  only  two  of  these.  'J'hey  were  very  simple, 
but  they  left  me  without  any  desire  for  further  proof. 

It  may  lie  that  both  the  experiments  I  now  relate  were  on 
the  same  day.  I  remember  that  they  were  both  on  the  atter- 
noon  of  Sunday,  which  day  was  usually  chosen  because  1 
was  at  leisure.  I  preferred  the  daytime  for  these  experi- 
ments In  the  fii-st  of  them  I  asked  a  patient  as  to  what  a 
certain  friend  of  mine  was  doing  who  lived  with  another 
friend  These  two  usually  took  a  walk  on  Sunday  atter- 
noon,  and  I  expected  to  have  them  both  described  as  passing 
along  some  country  road.  But  the  patient  said,  when  she- 
found  him :  — 


'%  '■ 


i    i', 


^ii 


THE   ASCENT   OP    LIFE. 


t9 


"  He  is  reclining  on  a  sofa,  smoking  a  pipe,  in  a  room, 
and  talking  to ." 

I  knew  by  her  accurate  mention  of  all  the  fnrnitnrc  that 
she  wiw  describing  their  private  sitting-room.  Tlicsi!  two 
men  were  great  friends,  and  the  patient  was  evi(h'nlly 
amused  at  the  expression  of  their  faces,  or  what  they  said. 

As  in  other  cases,  the  conversation  was  not  repeated  fully, 
though  evidently  heard.  On  sucli  occasions,  the;  annisement 
of  the  patients  indicated  tiiis  ;  though  in  their  desiic  to  tell 
things  in  their  own  way,  they  did  not  usually  repeat  the 
phrases  which  for  the  moment  provoked  a  smile.  Al  such 
times  the  patients  api)aiently  did  not  realize  the  impor- 
tance of  repeating  the  words  heard.  It  was  exactly  the 
same  as  if  they  looked  tlnough  the  window  and  did  not 
think  the  talk  worth  re[)eating.  A  silence  sotnetimes  en- 
sued while  the  patients  listened.  The  reader  may  imagine 
how  strange  it  seemed  to  me  to  watch  the  |>atients,  in  all 
such  cases  na  this,  listening  to  convei-sations  that  were  being 
held,  sometimes  two  miles,  sometimes  several  thousand  miles 
away. 

On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  I  called  on  one  of  these 
men,  and  found  that  they  had  not  taken  tlieir  walk,  but  had 
remained  in  the  sitting-room  as  mentioned.  They  had  also 
worn  the  coats  described.  Their  positions  in  the  loom  weie 
also  as  depicted  — one  of  my  friends  in  an  armcliair,  and 
the  other  reclining  on  the  sofa,  smoking  a  pipe.  'I'he  inte- 
rior of  the  apartment  had  never  been  seen  by  the  patient. 

The  single  experiment  which  I  shall  now  give  is  as  con- 
clusive as  if  I  gave  many.  They  could  be  easily  multi[)lied 
so  as  to  produce  weariness.  On  that  day  I  had  dined  with 
my  parents.  At  dinner,  after  church,  I  heard  my  father 
say  that  a  certain  banker  would  call  for  him  at  three  o'clock 
to  take  a  walk;  so  that,  later  in  the  afternoon,  perhaps 
about  four  o'clock,  I  felt  sure  that  he  would  be  described 
in  the  experiment  as  walking  with  this  banker  along  some 
street  or  country  road.  However,  this  was  not  so.  When 
the  patient  found  him  there  was  no  doubt  in  her  tone : 

"He  is  sitting  in  a  large  armchair,  asleep.  The  chair  is  a 
leddish  one." 

"Can  you  see  anything  more  to  describe?" 

"No,  nothing,  except  that  there  is  a  newspaper  lying 
across  his  knee." 


Q^^m^mik 


if'W" 


20 


THE    AHCKNT   OK    LIFK. 


t    Hi 


i  r 


Tliis  spomed  to  Im;  nil  there  was  to  ask,  so  T  inquirod 
about  my  inotlicr.     VVIuii  she  was  fouiid  tlit>  patient  said :  — 

"She  is  slaiidiii",' ut  a  loiij,'  wimlow  wliieli  ivaelies  almost 
to  tlie  !lo(»r.  Outside,  there  is  a  veranda  and  trees  growinj,'. 
Slie  is  liHikiujj  tlimufjh  tlie  trees." 

"And  of  wliat  is  she  ihinking?"' 

It  took  some  time  to  foree  an  answer  to  this,  for  tlie 
patient  asserted  that  she  eould  not  tell.  Mut  linally  she 
issued  the  answer  with  haste:  — 

"She  is  thinkinj^  of  Harry." 

Now,  Harry  was  a  youn<,''uiieh(  of  mine  whcmi  the  i)atient 
had  never  seen.  V^-ry  likely  I  had  mentioned  him  hefcire, 
hut  beyond  that  she  knew  nothing'  of  him.  He  had  died 
within  two  months  of  that  lime,  and  the  mention  of  his 
name  almost  startled  me,  for  he  had  Ikumi  a  lifelong  friend. 
1  eeased  the  experiment,  and  in([uired  as  soon  as  possible  (.t 
my  mother. 

I  di.seovered  that  Mr.  Y ,  the  banker,  had  not  called, 

and  that  my  father  had  slept  all  the  afternoon  in  a  large 
crimson  arniehair  which  was  his  favorite.  In  answer  to  my 
further  (luestion,  my  mother  said:  — 

"Yes,  he  was  reading  a  newspaper  as  he  fell  asleep,  and  I 
remember  that  it  rested  on  his  knee  during  the  time  he 
slept." 

She  also  rememl)ered  standing,  aboiit  the  Mt^e  mentioned, 
at  one  of  the  front  French  windows  (in  v. Inch  case  she 
would  Ui  facing  trees)  and  thinking  over  the  lawsuit  which 
at  that  time  was  causing  trouble  in  reference  to  her  brother's 

will. 

It  was  no  slight  matter  with  me  to  find  that  I  had  proved 
beyond  the  possibility  of  doubt  the  existence  of  a  soul. 

Since  about  that  "time  theie  have  been  no  more  experi- 
ments—  except  the  one  in  New  Y'ork  in  1891.  I  have  not 
since  thought  of  any  methods  which  could  l)e  more  conclu- 
sive or  more  entirely  scientific.  There  could  be  none.  Per- 
haps I  cannot  expect  that  all  strangei-s  will  believe.  If 
any  are  incredulous  it  is  to  their  loss.  To  all  such  I  say, 
"Go  and  do  aj^  I  have  done,  and  then  disbelief  will  be 
impossible."  Nature  has,  happily,  given  no  man  a  monojv 
f»ly.  Every  one  who  possesses  earnestness  of  purpose  and 
self-control  can  prove  these  things  for  himself,  with  a  suit- 
able patient.     Yet  I  am  far  from  suggesting  that  every  one 


a. 


■^,.gi4g^^:g»/,^f,iai^'^^a^^m^ry^ 


.  —  ~     f-.   .- 


THE    AHCKNT   OK    LFFK. 


SI 


should  try.  TIhmo  arc  limes  wlicii  frij,'lit  or  loss  of  sclf-cnti- 
trol  ill  llu;  uctualor  iiii^lil  (us  I  iiMii;;iii«- )  liavf  disastioiis 
resiiUs  oil  tlio  piiticiit.  wliosc  soul,  wliosi'  wluili)  fxistciirc, 
is  (li'livcri'd  into  liis  ki-cpiiij,'.  This  is  the  o|)iiiioii  of  (he 
Froiieh  school,  and  it  is  piohahly  conocl.  I'liloss  a  man  Ik' 
conliduiit.  in  his  own  interior  ealm,  even  in  the  presenci^  of 
shock  and  surprise,  I  tiiiiik  he  should  not  try.  Still  further 
am  I  fi'om  su^'fjestiiij,'  that  any  should  consent  to  he  patients, 
unless  the  intuitions  tell  them  that  the  actuator  will  prove 
sutlieient  and  Ix;  honorahle.  It  must  ht;  rememhered  that 
th(!  patient,  when  under  full  control,  has  no  will  hut  that  of 
the  a(^tuator. 

The  next  question  which  arises  is  this:  Is  the  soul,  when 
accpiiriiif;  kn(»wledgc  at  a  distance,  projecte«l  tlirou^di  space 
hy  the  will  of  the  actuator?  Or  is  it  a  faculty  unexplained, 
for  "knowing  simply  iKuiause  it  knows,"  similar  to  that 
whitdi  we  were  taught  to  legard  as  the  oniiii.science  possessed 
by  the  Deity  ?  In  other  words:  Does  tlu!  faculty  travel,  or 
is  it  continuously  resident  in  the  patient?  Some  lesultH  of 
my  experiments  seem  to  answer  anirniatively  to  the  lirst. 
question,  and  others  to  the  latter.  The  abilities  suggested 
in  the  seirond  question  would,  if  present,  dispense  with  those 
referred  to  in  the  lirst.  There  were  several  peculiarities 
which  suggested  that  the  seeing  quality  travelled.  F'or 
instance,  when  great  distances  were  re<piire(l  to  be  overcome 
there  was  always  a  delay  of  one,  two,  tiiree,  or  perhaps 
more,  minutes,  during  which  the  patient  would  be  apparently 
making  effort  of  her  own.  During  these  times  slie  would 
converse  in  a  contemplative  sort  of  way:  "  No,  I  don't  see 
him  [or  her].  I  can  only  see  faces,  strange  faces,  many  of 
them  —  strange  shapes  intermingling."  At  this  period  of 
search  the  patient  often  expressed  her  doubt  and  inability. 
Then,  suthlenly,  she  would  say,  "  Oh,  yes,  now  I  see  her." 
And  from  that  moment  all  doubt  ended,  and  the  person 
searched  for  was  described  with  certainty,  rapidity,  and 
precision. 

This  seemed  to  indicate  a  period  of  flight,  whereas  in 
telling  the  date  of  the  unknown  coin  which  was  close  at 
hand,  the  answer  was  i.istantaneous.  Again,  in  the  New 
York  exi»eriment  mentioned  on  page  17,  the  seeing  quality 
of  patient  apparently  pa.ssed  over  the  town  in  the  distant 
state  before  entering  the  house  where  the  person  searched  for 


Mmmn^^mfim&^ssm-irmm. 


If,-^*«l 


00 


THK    ASCKNT   <)K    I.IFK. 


%  li  1 


t  if.  i 

Mn 


•1       !'<■: 


i        P^l 


I'psidod.  Slit'  itimscd.  »'vi«lnitl_v  iiirious,  ami  icnnirkcd  in  lli»» 
iiinst  iiiattfr-(tl-l'iU't  wiiy  as  to  tin-  stifftM  anil  llicii  omi'ial 
•  Iti^olatiitM.  I liT  explanations  aH  to  luT  (twn  [losilion  in  llif 
nmni  Wfic  tli«'  sanic  timing  licr  vision  as  lla-v  wt'ir  aliii  I 
vvaki'il  licr,  wlu-n  we  talked  it  ovit.  Tlif  |.atifnls  al\\a\- 
s(M)ki'  as  it'  tluiy  Wfiv  actnallv  |ii('sfnl  in  tin-  Imdy  at  tlic 
distant  sci'nc. 

'I'lic  Nt'W  Vork  patient  made  this  tlcai.  Slic  explained, 
during'  tlu-  vision,  and  also  alterwards.  to  this  etVeet:  ••  I  was 
at  tlu!  window,  standing;  lieliind  her  (the  person  searched 
for].  I  did  not  see  her  I'aee  at  least  only  a  part  of  it  — 
tlionj^h  of  eonise  I  knew  her  liy  her  lij;nie  and  liy  her  voice 
when  she  spoke  to  the  sister.  I  eonld  see  the  address  on  the 
lntt(ir  over  her  shouhler,  or  around  her  arm." 

Tlu?  patient  considered  that  she  was  present  in  her  own 
person,  and  that  she  oc«'Upied  a  certain  spot  in  tim  room 
while  she  watched.  'I'his  opjjoses  the  idea  that  tin?  seeing,' 
(jiiality  is  a  resident  one,  which  mij;ht  he  expected  to  view 
ftU  ttiiU'S  of  the  person  searched  for.  The  fact  that  Hhe 
(dways  said.  "  /  stood  there,"  and  "  /  see  the  sister,"  etc., 
HiijTjr't.st.s'  that  the  individuality,  that  is  to  say  the  soid-ejjo,  of 
the  patient  did  the  work.  Tliere  was  no  exception  as  to  this 
in  any  experiments. 

These  peculiarities,  which  lead  to  much  delusion,  are  dealt 
with  ill  the  next  chapter. 

As  to  the  ahility  of  a  customary  patient  to  resist  the 
influence:  this,  I  fancy,  depends  on  many  thing's  —  on  the 
varying  will  strenj^th  of  the  actuator,  on  tlie  e:^t*Mit  of 
the  patient's  susceptibility  and  lialiit  of  snhmission,  etc. 
In  one  ciuse  a  patient  came  as  far  as  the  door  of  the  room 
where  I  was,  and  then  laughingly  delied  me  to  make  her 
come  in.  I  stood  against  the  opposite  wall  and  did  my 
l)est.  She  derided  my  efforts  and  vowed  antagonism.  I'he 
combat  lasted  a  long  time,  certainly  for  half  an  hour,  and 
just  when  I  was  thoioughly  exhausted,  I  saw  her  face  lose 
exiiression,  and  she  turned  and  went  away.  I  tiMUght  she 
had  won  the  struggle,  but  1  walked  after  her  and  found  her, 
three  rooms  off,  lying  on  a  sofa,  in  the  heaviest  mesmeric 
sleep.  It  was  like  the  trance  of  the  East  Indian  fakirs,  and, 
while  not  hurrying,  it  took  perhaps  live  minutes  to  effect  the 
awakening.  It  was  to  this  patient  that  I  succeeded  in  con- 
veying my  commands  from  a  distance.     When  she  did  not 


■*imi-tmi»m^mNv^f^ 


mf^m^Mmgimysemai 


TIIK    AHrr.NT   (»!'    I.IFK. 


88 


know  I  was  in  (In-  house  I  luivi-  liioiiylit  her  into  my  fircs- 
«'n.f  Uy  will  pow.-r.  Tlifii  I  would  asiv  her  why  siif  canit!. 
f^hi)  has  ic|.linl,  '•  I  was  ut  my  sfwiiij;  (or  otluT  occiipationj, 
ill  <l  siidih  liy  I  fell  that  yoii  were  here  and  wished  nif  to 
loinu."  This  (iccuiivd  two  or  ihict!  tiini-H.  (Jii  otlicr  occa- 
sions, thctiiyh.  lh(!  atti.'inpt  I'aih'd.  L'nh-.ss  tlie  |.alifiit  was  at 
soini-  o((ii|.atioii  lilu-  sfwiii^r,  which  Ifuvcs  the  mind  alnutnt 
a  hhmk  and  mulily  suscfjilihlt'  to  iinpiession,  the  fll'ori  did 
not  Hiiccitcd. 

'^••''""•'  • thidin^r  this  cliaptcr  \   nmst  ndato  a  i-asti  with 

whicii  I  liad  notiiinjr  to  do  exct'iit  as  spcclator.  The  pai- 
ticidars  of  it  wonhl  no  (hiid)t  he  corrohoratcd,  if  ni-ct'ssarv, 
l»y  luy  inotiicf,  my  sistt-i',  and  my  l)r(»th(;r-in-law.  I  i|o 
not  i»rinj;  it  forward  in  pidof  of  anything'  set  out  in  this 
liook,  lit'cansf  I  ohjfct  lo  nicntionin;^'  tlio  work  of  pro- 
fessional chiirvoyants.  In  the  meanlimi)  the  reaiU-r  will 
not  i.lpie(l  to  iiearin^'  an  ae(;onnt  which  may  he  amply 
auth('iilicale(h 

My  mother's  sister,  who  then  lived  in  Chiea^'o,  was  rather 
fond  at  one  time  of  eon.snlting  <lairvoyantes.  When  my 
aunt  vi>ited  us,  somewhere  ahont  lH77,  she  said  her  elaii- 
yoyante  in  Chicago  could  tell  the  fate  of  one  of  my  hrother- 
in-law's  vessels,  which  was  then  three  months  overdue  on  ii 
return  v(»yagc  from  some  South  American  luut.  When  she 
returned  houu;  she  consulted  the  woman,  and  I  was  present 
when  my  mother  rea<l  the  report  as  to  the  vessel,  (loiitained 
in  aunt's  letter.  I  can  almost  give  it  in  the  words  I  then 
heard:  "  The  vessel  is  not  lost.  The  dehiy  has  k-en  occa- 
sioned hy  an  accident.  When  in  shallow  water,  the  ship 
struck  her  keel  against  the  bottom  and  received  an  injurv. 
However,  she  is  all  safe,  and  has  arrived  in  port,  but  will 
have  to  go  into  diy  dock  for  repairs," 

My  brother-in-law,  tlu^  owner  of  the  "  Kdward  Blake,"  was 
present  at  the  reading  of  the  letter.  I  saw  him  growing 
intensely  interested.  When  it  was  finished  he  drew  from 
his  pocket  a  letter  which  he  had  that  morning  received  from 
the  cajjtain  of  his  ship,  giving  precisely  the  same  informa- 
tion. His  letter  was  from  (ilasgow.  When  seeking  shelter 
in  some  obscure  South  American  harbor,  the  »'  Edward 
[{lake "  had  struck  the  bar.  The  captain  had  for  a  long 
time  been  afraid  to  proceed  on  the  voyage  because  he  could 
not  tell  the  extent  of  the  damage.     The  letter  went  on  to 


1 


'i ! 


m^mmmmtm»amSmimmtwmimmiMmm»ri«K^mmm^^mmimmii,i,--im^ 


'vmmtmm^timaktmmf 


VW 


24 


THE   ASCENT   OF    LIFE. 


I  Jill 


1- ! : 


;  ii; 


say  that   the   vessel   was   just    going    into   dry  dock   for 
repairs. 

I  have  tested  the  work  of  professional  clairvoyantes.  It 
is  always  unreliable,  but  not  always  incorrect.  Some  have 
a  faculty  for  putting  themselves,  at  will,  into  a  condition  of 
light  sleep.  It  is  not  the  dee]),  almost  fathondess  sleep 
wldch  sets  free  the  soul  in  the  way  1  liave  described.  But 
it  deadens  the  influences  of  the  body  to  some  extent,  and 
thus  gives  the  interior  faculties  a  better  cliance  to  become 
cognizant  of  truth  than  in  the  more  waking  state.  There  is 
nothing  ])eculiar  about  this.  Thousands  of  women,  in  all 
ages,  have  been  reported  to  possess  "  second  sight."  It  is 
merely  an  ability  to  partly  remove  tlie  effects  produced  by 
the  body  and  its  sensations  in  "walling  in"  the  soul.  If 
these  people  could  remove  the  bodily  wall  sufficiently  they 
would  arrive  at  absolute  truth. 

The  truest  saying  ever  known  has  not  been  generally 
known  in  the  wliole  of  its  truth,  namely,  that  "  Truth  lies 
at  the  bottom  of  the  well."  It  conies  to  us  tlnough  the  old 
Arabic,  and  doubtless  had  its  origin  in  the  ancient  oriental 
occultisms.  Absolute  knowledge  lies  at  the  bottom  of  the 
well  of  the  human  being  —  that  is  to  say,  in  this  soul's 
correspondence  with  the  all-knowledge.  Kemove  its  encloud- 
ing  envelope  and  it  knows  with  certainty.  Because  clair- 
voyantes, mind  readers,  second-sight  people,  etc.,  only  com- 
mence in  a  small  degree  to  do  this,  their  "revelations"  are 
not  more  reliable  than  those  in  the  lighter  kind  of  dreams. 
Besides  this  they  are,  when  in  this  condition,  veiy  suscep- 
tible to  impressions  tliat  are  prominent  in  the  mind  of  the 
person  who  inquires.  For  instance,  people  who  are  crazed 
with  jealousy  rush  off  to  a  clairvoyante,  and  seldom  fail  to 
get  some  further  conviction  as  to  the  correctness  of  their 
absorbing  idea.  Clairvoyance  is  an  unquestionable  f.act.  It 
is  entirely  a  question  of  the  depth  of  the  sleep.  In  the 
deepest  and  most  complete  trance  of  mesmerism,  when  all 
bodily  sensation  is  dead,  the  soul,  with  its  unexplained 
completeness  of  knowledge,  is  set  free.  And  in  any  of  the 
approaches  to  this  deepest  sleep  the  interior  faculties  are 
more  or  less  freed.  Clairvoyantes,  if  honest,  have  a  perfect 
right  to  make  their  money  as  they  do  —  only  this,  that  no 
one  should  ever  rely  on  them.  The  one  who  told  about  the 
"  Edward  Blake "   was   doubtless   in   a   deep  sleep.      She 


4  r„igXtS»V 


»L««*tow.<5a*i»«»IS>iB»SSS8W»M«»l«!Ktal«0««tl^^ 


MMCiim 


-.  i.V.  :..  =  il.  -.Jul, 


THK    ASCKNT   OF    LIFE. 


26 


for 


honestly  earned  her  five  dollars.  But  with  the  next  patron 
she  might  1x5  almost  awake,  and  then  her  answers  would  he 
most  likely  useless  and  full  of  ahsurdities. 

People  say  these  things  are  too  marvellous  to  be  believed. 
Not  at  all !  In  the  study  of  the  soul  they  cease  to  be  marvels 
—  at  least,  the  surprise  of  them  ceases.  Probably  every  one 
has  comi)oso(l  music  and  uttered  lines  of  poetiy  in  sleep. 
When  I  have  been  anxious  about  important  law  cases  it  has 
been  said  that  my  addresses  to  imaginary  jitries  and  judges 
were  more  rapidly  delivered  in  my  sleep  than  they  were  in 
«'ourt.  This  accorded  with  what  I  recollected  of  my  dreams. 
Of  coui-se  everybody  is  in  similar  case.  The  interior  facul- 
ties are  liberated  by  the  sleep  of  the  body.  All  these  small 
matters  point  in  but  one  way.  They  tell  some  people  more 
than  is  dreamt  of  in  their  philosophy.  The  real  wonder  is 
that  any  one  should  doubt. 

lint  it  is  in  their  applicatiiin  to  the  understanding  of  LIFE 
that  the  knowledges  are  useful. 


'^??l^ 


!      '  >    I 


t    i 
%    1 


'    i, 


J  1 

4  'f  I 


Chapter  II. 


The  foregoing  experiments  prove  tliat  we  have  within  us 
a  faculty  for  acquiiing  from  without  a  knowledge  tliat  is 
independent  of  either  words  or  sound.  Patients  regard  tliis 
as  an  ahility  of  the  e//o,  the  individuality.  We  also  learn 
that  this  individuality  is  so  susceptihle  to  the  influence  of 
other  individualities  that  it  can  by  our  consent  be  taken 
possession  of  by  others,  and  absolutely  mastered  for  either 
good  or  evil.  They  also  indicate  that  this  faculty  in  acquir- 
ing its  knowledge  in  any  part  of  this  world  is  not  affected 
by  distance. 

It  has  been  said  that  if  all  cables  and  wires  were  con- 
nected, an  electric  message  would  circle  the  world  instan- 
taneously —  that  is  to  say,  if  an  operator  telegraphed  from 
his  right  hand  to  his  left,  with  the  whole  world  between,  the 
letters  of  the  message  would  come  in  from  tlie  east  as  soon 
as  they  are  sent  out  to  the  west.  We  have  here  a  natural 
fact  as  to  annihilation  of  distance.  Yet  it  is  not  suggested 
that  the  soul  in  acquiring  knowledge  at  a  distjince  is  a 
current.  Nor  is  it  suggested  that  electricity  is  a  current. 
Evidently  it  is  one  of  the  life  principles.  A  telegraph  line, 
when  in  use,  is  a  wire  vivified  —  that  is  to  say,  it  is  through- 
out its  length  permeated  by  an  immaterial  essence  possessing 
a  capacity  for  such  inconceivably  rapid  vibration  that  a  shock 
or  alteration  in  one  spot  is  immediately  felt  along  the  whole 
wire.  In  other  words,  it  is  as  sensitive  in  its  entirety  as  in 
its  part.  One  spot  cannot  suffer  anything  unfelt  by  the 
whole  at  the  same  moment.  This  is  sympathy  sublimated  — 
sensitiveness  carried  to  a  superlative  degree.  It  is  a  power 
of  nature.  We  can  make  it  —  or  rather  educe  it  —  while, 
still  ignorant  of  what  it  is. 


26 


'fmgei»-mmiitatcmmriii^»a-ttas'>^Mm-t<C'imiai*'»sm?i- 


^  -.ijaanaawww^'  ~  ^ 


THE   ASCENT   OK    LIFE. 


27 


Similarly  the  soul,  which  is  a  higher,  or  more  extensive, 
existence  than  electricity,  may  be  expected  to  contain  among 
its  qualities  some  peculiarities  of  that  principle  with  which 
we  are  best  acquainted.  It  seems  probable  that  the  soul  or 
life  of  man  also  possesses,  in  a  similar  way,  a  capacity  for 
inconceivably  rapid  vibration.  But  there  is  no  vivitied  wire 
or  other  material  channel  of  communi(!ation  between  the  soul 
of  a  mesmerized  patient  and  a  person  inquired  about,  say  in 
San  P^rancisco.  And  if  the  patient's  soul  knows  enough  to 
discover  the  presence  of  the  San  Fmnciscan,  and  how  at  the 
same  time  to  report  of  hira  fully  in  New  York,  it  surely 
knows  enough  to  stay  at  home  and  do  its  work  as  a  resident. 
In  other  words,  the  abilities  required  in  order  to  make  the 
flight  would  be  more  extensive  tlian  a  resident  intelligence 
would  require,  and  the  economy  of  nature  does  not  favor  any 
unnecessary  power,  people,  or  entity. 

The  facts  and  reports  of  patients  which  tend  to  support 
the  theory  of  "  flight "  are  given  at  some  length,  because  it 
is  interesting  to  see  what  grounds  oiientals  and  othera 
have  had  for  believing  that  some  part  of  the  human  makeup 
was  projected  through  space.  The  usual  explanations  of 
patients  almost  necessarily  lead  to  some  theory  of  this  kind. 
Yet  it  is  to  be  underatood  that  the  person  whose  interior 
faculties  are  witnessing  a  distant  scene  could  speak  in  no 
other  way  than  in  the  first  person.  The  theory  of  the  resi- 
dent intelligence  accounts  for  all  the  facts,  so  that  there 
seems  to  be  no  sufficient  reason  for  suggesting  any  such 
further  peciiMarity  as  is  asserted  in  oriental  systems.  The 
reader  may,  iiierefore,  so  far  as  this  work  is  concerned,  divest 
his  mind  of  Buddhistic  suggestions  as  to  "astral  bodies,"  etc. 
People  who  have  not  grasped  the  most  deei>-set  truth  of 
nature  have  imagined  different  existences  to  explain  such 
phenomena  as  are  here  exhibited. 

What,  then,  is  this  intelligence  which  is  resident  in  man, 
and  which  is  possessed  of  these  fearful  and  wonderful,  and 
yet  most  peaceful  and  natural,  powei-s  ?  On  the  way  to  an 
answer,  a  few  dicta  of  celebrated  men  may  be  considered. 
Let  us  go  first  to  the  region  of  material  science.  Here,  Mr. 
Herbert  Spencer  indicates  that  all  human  study.and  research 
finally  bring  us  to  the  one  absolute  cei-tainty  —  "  that  we  are 
in  the  presence  of  an  Infinite  and  Eternal  Energy,  from 
which  all  things  proceed."    The  above  is  not  the  voice  of 


■•"^""^^ntKimmttmmiKaa 


!7i*r> 


28 


THE   A8CKNT   OK    LIFE. 


I  ;i;| 


i  il 


I  i; 


uneducated  religion,  or  of  any  kind  of  dogma,  but  is  the 
ultimatum  of  the  most  material  and  scientific  methods  of 
research.     Lot  Mr.  Spencer  continue :  — 

Historical  evidence  shows  that  the  religious  consciousness  began 
amon<r  primitive  men  with  a  belief  in  a  double  i)elougni,i,'  to  each 
individuiil,  wliidi,  cupuble  of  imuderiug  away  from  him  dunuy  hje, 
becon)e8  hi«  -'liost  or  spirit  after  death;  and  that  from  this  idea  being 
eventuallv  distinguished  as  supernatural,  there  developod,  in  course 
of  time,  the  ideas  of  supernatural  beings  of  all  orders  up  to  the 
highest. 

Let  us  now  take  a  definition  of  Professor  Max  Muller,  and 
then  combine  the  different  sayings  and  ask  a  few  questions. 
He  says,  "  Religion  is  the  faculty  for  realizing  the  Infinite." 
What  we  undei-stand  from  his  remark  is  that  "  There  is  in 
man  a  faculty  for  realizing  the  Lifinite,  of  which  the  out- 
come is  religion."  No  one  seems  to  mention  that  this  faculty 
for  partly  realizing  the  Infinite  will  also  comprehend  the 
finite,  as  the  greater  includes  the  lesd.  Yet  it  is  of  impor- 
tance to  understand  that  the  same  faculty  which,  with  its 
marvellous  and  wordless  knowledge,  may  be  conscious  of 
great  truths  and  aspirations,  is  also  capable  of  comprehending 
the  smallest  and  most  trivial  things.  To  suppose  that  the 
faculty  only  apprehends  great  matters,  and  not  small  ones, 
would  be  placing  an  unnecessary  limitation  on  it. 

Now  what  gave  rise  to  this  "  consciousness  which  began 
among  primitive  men  with  a  belief  in  a  double  belonging  to 
each  individual,  that  is  capable  of  wandering  away  from  him 
during  life"?  What  gave  rise  to  the  Buddhist  behef  that 
some  part  of  the  human  makeup  could  be  projected  through 
space  to  acquire  knowledge  at  a  distance?     The  answer  is  a 
simple  one,  though  it  requires  further  explanation.     It  is 
merely  this,  that  "  Truth  lies  at  the  bottom  of  the  well,"  — 
that  the  internal  depths  are  in  unity  with  an  all-pervading 
knowledge  which  simply  knows  because  it  knows.     When- 
ever a  savage  or  a  civilized  man  (and  in  questions  of  soul 
science  there  is  no  separation),  has  been  in  a  deep  sleep,  and 
his  soul  has  apprehended  some  facts  that  were  occurring  at  a 
distance,  he   has,  very  naturally,  thought  he   possessed  a 
double,   which   "wandered    away   from   him    during  life.' 
Similarly,  in  the  East  Indian  methods  for  producing  trance, 
the  soul  is  divested  of  the  bodily  sensations  and  passions, 
and  thus  may  without  difficulty  be  made  to  witness  distant 


■ 


,,ism»e!ff^ffiismi^. 


-■-i^S*S«SI!Ki«W"»"'- 


^""^••^^iiimuiiimstimmxim 


THK   ASCENT  OP    LIFE. 


29 


affairs.  Consequently  thej  all  think  that  a  spiritual  double 
of  the  human  body  is  projected  to  remote  localities.  The 
mass  of  information  collected  by  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  and 
his  assistants  incidentally  includes  this  point;  Professor 
Huxley  has  also  assisted ;  all  tlie  religious  literature  of  the 
world  has  more  or  less  contributed.  In  fact,  tlie  stories  of 
vision  at  death  and  vision  during  sleep,  no  matter  where 
they  come  from,  turn  on  this  same  point. 

Now  consider  Max  Miiller's  statement,  whicli  (with  not 
improper  alteration)  reads  thus:  "There  is  in  man  a  faculty 
for  correspondence  with  the  Infinite,  of  which  the  outcome  is 
religion."  Clearly,  religion  is  only  one  outcome  of  this 
faculty,  for  it  is  the  medium  through  which  every  living 
thing  is  assisted  towards  living  as  it  should,  and  towards 
acquiring  its  own  necessities.  The  Controller  of  evolution 
has  not  produced  an  infinity  of  living  creatures  while  cutting 
off  all  media  for  communication.  To  suppose  so  would  be 
to  suggest  that  everything  had  been  left  to  chance. 

But,  in  nature  itself,  Avhat  do  we  find?  Every  child's 
book  on  natural  history  teems  with  anecdotes  regarding 
the  instinct  and  peculiar  tiaits  of  animals.  Not  oidy  do 
these  stories  refer  to  the  instincts  which  are  assisted  by 
heredity,  but  they  point  to  the  exercise  of  faculties  which 
are  outside  of  heredity.  How  are  those  creatures  in  Texas 
made  aware  that  if  they  seek  and  eat  a  certain  plant 
they  will  be  cured  after  being  bitten  by  rattlesnakes?  In 
this  case  there  can  be  no  heredity,  and  not  even,  as  a  rule, 
any  previous  experience.  And  supposing  previous  practice 
had  existed,  through  their  having  been  previously  bitten, 
how  was  the  practice  first  learned?  Now  the  fact  is,  that,  in 
unnumbered  cases  of  the  al)ove  kind,  the  reason  of  man  has 
been  entiiely  halted;  no  explanation  has  been  given.  The 
high  priests  of  science  are  silent.  Those  who  are  not  brave 
enough  to  say  they  do  not  know,  take  refuge  in  the  idea  of 
heredity.     They  might  as  well  explain  it  by  astrology. 

Again,  why  does  the  hunter  who  is  lost  on  the  prairie 
drop  the  reins  on  his  horse's  neck,  so  that  the  beast  may  take 
him  back  to  the  encampment  ?  The  horse  knows  no  more 
than  the  hunter  about  the  proper  direction  to  take;  but  a 
cei-tain  faculty  in  him  does.  Who  ever  heard  of  a  full- 
blooded  American  Indian,  of  the  older  times,  being  lost  in 
the  woods?     Enclose  your  dog  in  a  box,  and  after  sending 


■fOiwtrtBwmaiiBftw*^ 


80 


THK    ASCENT   OF    LIFK. 


lai 


hi,u  a  hundred  miles  l.y  rail,  loose  him,  and  see  how  soon  he 

will  return  to  his  home.  «?.-.„ 

An  Irish  lishiMinan  had  a  tame  seal -an  affectionate 
thinLr-- which  bfiame  rather  a  nuisance  about  the  cottage. 
He  sent  it  away  for  long  distances  .,n  board  ship,  but  i 
always  came  back.  Then  he,  or  some  other  men,  tried  a 
fiendish  experiment.  They  put  out  the  creature  s  eyes  and 
shipi.ed  it  on  a  sailing  vessel.  When  half  way  across  he 
Atlantic  the  seal  was  thrown  overboard.  It  was  now  unable 
to  procure  food,  being  blind.  Hut  it  reached  home;  and  one 
morning  was  found  dead  of  starvation  at  the  door  of   the 

'Tow,"  what  explains  all  this  ?     You  may  call  it  the  "  hom- 
ing instinct,"  or  give  it  any  other  absurd  name.     Of  what 
usf  is  "  homing  instinct  "  to  a  blind  seal  in  track  ess  watei^ 
or  even  to  a  seal  that  sees?     The  answer  is  simply  this,  that 
fish,  bird,  and  animal,  can  in  the  pressure  of  their  necessities 
make  draughts  upon  the  all-knowledge  that  assists  evolution. 
Inst;inces  oi  the  same  truth  can  l)e  multiplied      1  he  migra- 
tion of  fish,  birds,  and  animals;  their  methods  of   defence, 
escape,   and   attack;  the   ability   of    the   condor  and   other 
carrion  birds  to  reach  the  distant  carcass;  the  knowledge  of 
the  desert  camel  that  a  pool  is  within  a   days   journey  — 
nearly  all  the  strange  recoi-ds  of  natural  history  are  explained 
bv  the  fact  of  the  correspondence  between  the  sunmal  soul 
and  the  all-knowledge.     These  things  are  precisely  tlie  same 
on  the  lower  planes  of  life  as  the  correspondences  artihcially 
utilized  by  the  mesmerist,  when  he  makes  the  soul  of  his 
patient  describe  with  certainty  events  which  are  happening 
elsewhere      Throughout  animal  nature,  these  processes  seem 
to  be  brought  into  action  solely  as  a  result  of  necessity. 
Glutted  animals  lose  that  alertness  which  the  correspondences 
demand.     Everywhere  is  found  necessity,  in  countless  forms, 
begetting  that  which  nature  and  all  achievement  demand, 

"""iTthe  Fi^ench  school,  whose  experimente  corroborate  those 
here  given,  succeeds  in  convincing  the  public  of  the  utility  of 
mesmerism,  it  may  be  applied  in  a  number  of  ways.  Foi 
rt^ce  anv  one  who  can  fully  mesmerize  a  blind  person 
can  make  him  see  more  than  one  sees  with  ordinary  sight; 
fo  •  the  actuator  can  show  him  all  he  remembei^,  and,  indeed, 
any  part  of  the  world  wliich  he  ha^  never  seen,  or,  apparently, 


i  '•  '\i 


THJS   ASCENT   OK   LIFK. 


81 


anything  else.  To  the  blind,  the  joy  of  this  would  he  inv'on- 
ceivable.  We  wait  for  science  to  do  this  —  for  men  do  not 
know  how  they  may  help  each  other. 

Again,  it  may  be  used  in  reducing  public  expenditure  in 
criminal  trials.  After  the  usual  trouble  and  delay  over  them, 
we  are  not  always  free  from  a  doubt  as  to  their  correct  term- 
ination. There  should  be  no  uncertainty.  Of  course  the 
liberty  of  the  individual  will  not  be  readily  tampered  with, 
but  there  seems  to  be  no  reason,  when  a  large  amount  of  con- 
demnatory evidence  is  taken  at  the  preliminary  examination, 
why  the  accused  should  not  be  made  to  tell  .as  to  his  guilt  or 
innocence.  It  remains  to  be  proved  as  to  whetlier  anaesthetics 
can  produce  the  sleep  of  body  which  liberates  the  interior 
faculties.  If,  in  this  way,  as  by  the  inesmeric  processes,  the 
accused  can  harmlessly  be  placed  in  the  condition  here 
described,  he  can  be  forced  by  will  power  to  tell  everything. 
He  then  would  give  every  detail,  and  say  where  he  buried  or 
secreted  the  corpora  delicti^  etc.  The  truth  of  all  those 
details  could  be  ascertained  at  once  by  reliable  persons. 
Then  the  culprit  could  be  immediately  tried  and  this  evidence . 
of  these  peraons  taken.  After  this,  the  condemned  one  could 
be  sent  at  once  to  the  chair,  and  there  could  he  no  uncer- 
tainty as  to  the  justice  of  the  result.  It  wsis  stated  in  the 
newspapers  that  this  process  was  lately  utilized  by  the 
Parisian  scientists  in  the  case  of  the  murderer  Eyraud.  They 
mesmerized  his  accomplice,  Gabrielle  Bompard,  and  she  told 
the  story  of  the  murder  with  every  detail.  When  Eyraud 
went  to  the  guillotine  there  was  no  doubt  of  his  guilt. 

The  other  channels  in  which  the  faculty  may  be  used  are 
inRnite  —  for  instance,  among  shipwrecked  people,  in  a  boat 
at  sea,  or  on  a  desert  island.  If  the  man  of  strongest  will 
can  mesmerize  the  most  submissive  woman,  she  will  tell 
what  ships  or  lands  are  near,  the  proper  direction  to  steer,  or 
any  other  knowledge  of  the  like  kind.  It  must  always  be 
recollected  that  where  you  have  a  human  being  you  have  a 
machine  which  caii  transmit  to  you  all  the  knowledge  you 
require  in  any  such  case.  And  if  there  be  a  woman  present, 
especially  a  maiden,  you  v/ill  discover  in  your  scientific 
process  that  you  have  with  you  a  very  wonderful  being.  If 
she  brings  men  to  a  knowledge  of  the  wonderful  alliances 
that  are  within  her,  she  will  be  only  fulfilling  part  of  her 
mission  in  life. 


^'i^'^e^'»*fneeseae^na^i?aieS9^^.':i£^f»Ods 


.:;j-ii;»-j..*i— -I  :■-,*.,-. 


82 


THE    ASCKNT   OP   LIFE. 


siri 


'    i.!i 


hia 


•■  m 


The  following  anecdote  is  believed  to  bo  true.     James 
Doyle,  fornieily  a  foremast  sailor  on  the  Canadian  Lakes,  had 
a  wile  and  family  living  in  Hamilton,  Canada,  where  probably 
they  still  remain.     Doyle  was  coming  down  Lake  Erie  one 
night  on  a  sailing  vessel.     He  went  below  at  eight  bells,  and 
while  in  his  bunk  thought  that  he  was  at  his  home  in  Hamil- 
ton.    In  his  wile's  room  his  child  was  dying.    A  doctor,  who 
was  a  stranger  to  Doyle,  was  attending  the  child.     The  wife 
and  several  of  Doyle's  acquaintances  were  there;  also  several 
people  he  did  not  know.     He  woke  in  a  fright  and  rushed 
on  deck  in  an  excited  way.     The  captain   told  him  not  to  be 
a  fool,  and  sent  him   below.     1  think  Doyle  said   that  on 
returning  to  his  bunk  the  vision  appeared  again.     When  he 
reached  the  Welland  Canal  he  got  paid  off  and  took  the  train 
home.     He  found  that  his  child  had  died  on  the  night  of 
the  vision,  and  that  every  pei-son  had  been  in  the  room  as  he 
saw  them,  including  the  strange  doctor,  whom  he  visited  and 
recognized  as  the  one  he  had  witnessed  in  the  vision.     Doyle 
had  felt  the  loss  of  his  child.     He  spoke  of  the  occurrence 
with  difficulty.     It  was  not  a  matter  about  which  a  father 
would  conjure  up  a  lie.     He  was  a  sailor  on  the  yacht  of  the' 
writer's  uncle,  and  was  for  many  years  known  as  an  honest 
fellow. 

When  the  wife  and  the  assembled  people,  and  perhaps 
the  dying  child,  were  all  lamenting  the  father's  absence  at 
such  a  time,  what  a  strange  effect  it  had  upon  his  soul  while 
he  slept !  Here  was  a  case  which  almost  necessitated  a 
l)elief  in  a  double.  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer's  collection  of  data 
on  this  subject  show  that  these  visions  have  occurred  in 
all  figes  and  among  all  peoples,  both  savage  and  civilized. 
There  may  have  l)een  some  imposture,  but  large  baskets  of 
fish  are  inidoubtedly  caught,  in  spite  of  the  frequency  of 
exaggerated  stcM-ies.  If  any  one  doubts  that  visions  have 
occurred,  let  him  experiment  on  these  lines;  and  he  will  find 
that  he  can  arlilicially  produce  fis  strange  visions  as  ever 
were  related.  Not  only  will  he  produce  them  himself,  but 
he  will  see  how  simple  and  apparent  is  the  explanation  of  all 
the  others. 


!a56S^^^S^«^EWWKW»a8W»a^gi^feiefr*. 


'•■''^^s^i^mftm^Smt 


msmsmttmsieii 


Chapter   III. 


Probably  most  people  are  tired  of  attempted  reconcilia- 
tions Ihitwecn  religion  and  science.  There  is  here  no  desire 
to  contribute  another  of  such  atteni[>ts.  We  need  fewer 
opinions  and  apologies;  we  want  facts,  and  the  only  fact« 
are  in  nature.  One  might  think,  from  the  appearances  of 
late  yeara,  that  science  and  religion  would  continue  to  run  as 
parallel  lines  and  never  meet.  And  if  science  does  not 
extend  its  own  methods  into  the  region  of  the  immaterial 
life,  they  will,  evidently,  remain  as  strangers.  But,  as  Gcoige 
Eliot's  old  innkeeper  continually  told  his  quarreling  guests, 
— "  The  truth  lies  atween  ye,  gentlemen,  the  truth  lies 
atween  ye!"  La  Rochefoucauld  said,  "  Les  (juerelles  ne, 
duraient  pas  longtemps  si  le  tort  n'etait  que  d'un  cote,"  and 
the  trouble  between  science  and  religion  is  that  ihey  are 
both  wrong;  or,  rather,  as  the  old  innkeeper  oracularly  said, 
"  Ye're  both  right  and  ye 're  both  wrong  —  the  truth  lies 
atween  ye,  gentlemen ! " 

Huxley  says:  — 

By  the  term  "  science,"  I  understand  all  that  knowledge  which 
rests  upon  evidence  and  reasoning  of  a  like  chviracter  to  that  which 
claims  our  assent  to  ordinary  scientific  propositions;  and  if  any  one 
is  able  to  make  good  the  assertion  that  his  theology  rests  upon  valid 
evidence  and  sound  reasoning,  then  it  appears  to  mc  that  such 
theology  must  take  its  place  as  a  part  of  science. 

It  will  remain  for  the  reader  himself  to  experiment,  and 
then  say  whether  his  knowledge  there b}'  gained  "  rests  upon 
evidence  of  like  character  to  that  which  claims  our  assent  to 
ordinary  scientific  propositions."  If  the  methods  are  of  this 
character,  they  are  sufficiently  scientific  to  gain  a  hearing; 
and  although  it  is  not  suggested  that  one  man's  evidence 
(even  when  corroborated  by  French  scientists),  is  of  the  kind 
which  may  be  accepted  as  "valid"  (in  the  sense  of  all- 
sufficient),  one  may  still  hope  that  the  truth  here  produced 
may  at  least  lead  others  to  the  same  channels  of  inquiry  and 
proof. 


•  : i^^A- 


;V4 


TIIK   ASCENT   OK    MKR. 


! 
''1 


;!.li 


m' 


■will 


If  any  ii((|ni('sc(;n(;i'  of  roftdoin  has  bfen  accorded,  they 
will,  of  llu'ir  own  motion,  go  fnitliiT,  and  think  out  for 
theniselvi's  a  niunlKT  of  coiTolMHiitive  fact**  which  could  not 
Ik)  included  in  a  short  treatise  of  this  kind.  They  will  see 
that  this  work  is  I'hiefly  addiesstid  to  those  who  have  made 
at  least  some  study  of  the  laws  and  hisUuy  of  evolution, 
because  without  this  study  people  aie  at  sea  regarding  com- 
prehension of  life;  and  it  must  l>e  assumed  that  readeis 
possess  some  kn«)wledge  of  material  evolution  before  an 
attempt  can  1h!  made  to  describe  nature's  advance  into  its 
spiritual  grades. 

What  we  reqiiire  most  is  unity  of  conception.  Ii^jfp 
there  is  such  inthiite  variety  of  phenomena  and  such  inlinitc 
complexity  of  relation,  that  what  wc  rctpiirc!  most  is  great 
simplicity  of  law.  In  this  work  we  are  not  concerned  to 
prove  that  cither'  science  or  religion  is  right.  No  personal 
opinion,  nor  any  centuries  of  opinions,  arc  worth  a  rush 
unless  these  seem  to  leap  into  the  heart  as  truths.  Yet  no 
one  will  attemi)t  to  undervalue  the  enormous  accretions  of 
data  which  have  l)ecome  rangc<l  at  the  sides  of  Ixith  religion 
and  science.  These  are  the  powers  which,  by  pressing  on 
both  sides,  iinally  siiueeze  the  truth  out  from  between  them. 

The  aspirations,  incentives,  and  confidences  of  all  the 
hosts  of  religious  men,  together  with  their  clinging  to  "the 
evidences  of  things  not  seen  "  which  were  to  them  realities, 
will  never  be  lost,  and  their  value  will  never  he  denied  — 
because  they  were  right,  in  the  main.  Yet  their  "right" 
was  so  pervaded  with  unnecessary  et  ceteras,  and  they  nil  so 
insisted  on  the  necessity  of  these  et  ceteras,  that  many  thou- 
sands of  the  best  and  most  educated  men  have  turned  away 
feeling  sore. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  aspimtions,  incentives,  arduous 
researches,  and  successes  of  all  the  scientific  and  carefully 
thinking  men  who  clung  to  the  evidence  of  things  that  are 

seen men  who  starved  spirit  rather  than  accept  untruth 

—  the  work  and  the  downright  honesty  of  these  pereons  will 
never  be  lost,  and  their  value  will  never  be  denied — because 
they  were  right,  so  far  as  they  went.  Yet  their  "right"  was 
80  hedged  with  unnecessary  limits,  and  they  so  insisted  on 
these  limits,  that  many  thousands  of  the  best  and  most 
religious  of  meu  turned  away  feeling  sore. 


TIIK    ASCKNT  or   I.tl'K.  .'!,' 

It  will  ho  seoii,  th()Uf,Hi.  lliat  in  the  imst'iit  Htiitc  of  things 
there  can  Ije  no  recont'iiiiition  hc^twecn  scMrncu  and  ii'ligion. 
One  clings  tf)  the  true  and  iiitiiiigiltU'.  and  tlic  othi-r  cliiigH 
to  the  true  and  tangihle.  The  only  Noliilion  of  the  dilliculty, 
therefore,  seems  to  lie  for  hoth  to  cinignite  to  a  new  region 
in  which  both  parties  may  retain  .some  of  their  most  cher- 
ished principles.  It  is  tlie  endeavor  of  tiiis  woik  to  show 
where  that  region  is.  To  reach  it,  the  ailvocate  of  science 
must  extend  his  limitations  and  the  religionist  must  drop 
some  of  his  ef  eetcrai*.  This  will  Im*  no  reconciliation.  It 
will  be  a  new  land  to  which  emigrants  pass  Inicanse  trutli 
has  ita  alxxle  there.  The  inhabitants  will  care  ludhing  for 
the  previous  opinions  of  the  new  immigrants,  and  the  whole 
region  is  governed  by  law  and  truth.  Tlie  simple  name  of 
the  region  is  "  the  future";  its  legal  code  is  the  same  eternal 
law  of  evolution,  with  further  v(»lumes  added  concerning  the 
spirit  life;  and  its  (lod  is  the  ffod  of  natuie,  who  insist.s 
upon  things  being  done  in  His  way  and  not  in  the  ways  .set 
up  by  priests  of  either  science  or  sect. 

No  matter  what  our  beliefs  or  unbeliefs  may  be,  we  all 
have  to  face  one  great  truth,  and  the  sooner  we  face  it  the 
better.  It  is  this  —  that  tiie  only  po.ssible  God  is  the  God 
of  nature.  Many  religious  people  will  say  that  they  have 
alvva,y8  admitted  this.  In  a  way  —yes.  But  they  have  been 
continually  apologizing  for  nature,  criticising  nature,  and 
iiating  some  parts  of  it.  For  instance,  when  Paul  advises 
against  marriage,  he  is  flatly  opposed  to  tlie  God  of  nature; 
that  is  to  say,  he  opposes  and  is  evidently  ignorant  of  those 
jtrocesses  which  God  uses  to  teach  the  majorities  of  men. 
No  fact  of  nature  is  opposed  to  religion,  and  any  religious 
idea  which  cannot  be  made  to  fit  in  with  nature  is  ipso  facto 
wrong.  Paul,  therefore,  while  right  as  to  himself,  did  more 
than  most  men  to  make  Christianity  in  some  respects  the 
most  stupendous  critic  of  God  that  the  world  has  known. 
All  teachings  which  arc  out  of  harmony  with  the  bulk  of 
humanity  require  adjustment.  Teachings  which  are  quite 
proper,  and  a  necessity,  for  those  on  the  highest  human 
I)lanes,  are  of  little  use  to  those  who  know  next  to  nothing 
of  the  spiritual  life.  Indeed,  for  the  vast  majorities  who  are 
in  the  lower  grades,  the  teachings  do  harm,  in  creating 
despair.  Pioper  study  of  nature  cures  all  these  things.  In 
the  region  of  the  future  they  are  understood. 


80 


TIIK    AHrKNT   OK    l,IFK. 


'''.•':!!! 


«ii  ii 


It  Hounds  alniuHt  (^liililisli  to  spcuk  of  ilic  fuliiru  \mng 
(lirt'ct  siuu'i'ssor  to  (ho  present,  iiiid  of  the  present  lieinjj  the 
liiieivl  (hiseendiint  of  the  p;ist.  Yet,  apparent  in  their  truth 
as  these  statenientM  are,  it  nuiy  Ihi  doul)ted  whether  pvuplu 
will,  lus  a  rule,  pay  inueh  heed  to  wliiit  they  sugjfest.  People 
are  apparently  unwillinj^  tt)  Iwlieve  that  that  which  has  con- 
tinually ruled  in  tiie  past  and  present  will  cuntinue  to  rule 
in  the  future.  We  have  with  us  the  modern  ajjes  of  the 
present,  and  liehind  us  v,  e  have  a  past  which  resembles  an 
eternity.  We  are  able  to  see  that  throughout  the  whole  of 
tills  time  the  same  prineii)les  of  law  for  progress  have  l)een 
at  work.  And  yet  most  people  think  that  man  u  ho  impor- 
tant that  in  his  case  nature  will  make  a  jump,  and  land  him 
after  death  in  some  blissful  abode  of  purity  and  rejinement 
for  whieh,  clearly,  he  is  not  fitted.  The  conceit  and  improl)- 
ability  involved  in  tliis  idea  Ijecome  apparent  by  ascertaining 
how  free  from  "jumps"  nature  hivs  l»een. 

Nothing  so  impresses  a  student  as  the  solidity  of  nature. 
When  a  law  of  nature  teaches  of  itself,  its  jtower  for  product- 
ing  conviction  is  like  the  silent  and  resistless  force  of  a  tide. 
We  gain  such  a  complete  sense  of  its  reality  that  any  in- 
fringement of  it  seems  aksurd.  Infringement  is  generally 
called  sin  ;  but  it  is  also  alwurdity,  even  when  coupled  with 
unspeakable  tragedy.  Indeed,  it  is  a  wide  thought  that 
there  is  nothing  in  nature  but  nature.  In  different  terms, 
some  religions  express  the  same  idea,  when  saying,  "There 
is  nothing  in  nature  but  (loil  "  And  the  material  scientist 
comes  very  near  the  same  thing  if  ho  says,  "We  know  of 
nothing  in  nature  but  law."  All  these  expressions  are 
merely  the  various  attempts  to  give  verbal  expression  to  the 
existence  of  that  whii^h  all  opi)osing  parties  are  agreed  upon. 
Therefore  in  the  region  of  the  future  one  speaks  of  nature  or 
law  or  (Jod  when  one  refers  to  that  existence  regarding 
which  there  is  no  dispute.  F»u'  the  purposes  of  this  work 
these  terms  are  usually  emi)loyed  as  if  they  were  synony- 
mous. 

Taking,  then,  tbe  subject  matter  of  this  consensus  of 
opinion,  we  ask.  What  is  this  nature,  or  God,  or  law?  Aj)- 
palled  by  the  magnitude  of  the  question,  the  first  answer  is 
that  we  know  nothing.  But  this  is  wrong.  We  do  know 
something.  Where,  then,  is  the  knowledge  ?  We  turn 
incjuiringly  to  science.  Science  answers  that  it  knows  of 
laws   and   effects,  and   nothing   more.     We   then   turn   to 


*'t£rtiSB-'  ^-r:  i~  )^,  '^r-.-^'S^i'^- 


i^^ibr^i^m-,^ikm'^jr^^:^ssmssSi^Ti:^^^msmim^m>^^-^' 


'm^<m^mmm^mist»mmmttmsimmi' 


THK    A.sn;NT   OK    |,li.|; 


87 


iv  iKK'M.  Iloro  wo  tiiMl  (•(.iirith-ss  works  c.f  lioimml.lc  nion  of 
uU  mum  ,.(!  u^r,,s  win.  ajr,,.,,  ui,  oiu,  i,.»ii,t.  'rin-y  iimy  n.n- 
U'iKl  with  «..icli  otli.T  alM.iit  trill.'s  iiimI  ,1  ,r^■/w^  hut  tlii-v 
uri',  on«  and  all,  aKivcl  on  oiut  point  — that  wo  havo  within 
iiH  an  inwanl  monitor  whinh  guides  onr  liC,  (•(.im-tlv.  In 
I'lht-r  words,  they  hkivo  that  tho  human  sonl  is  capahh' of 

iKMUf,'  in  correspoiKh e  with  soino  all-knowh-d^ro  whicli  Ih 

iKMitiiiually  pmsent;  also  that  tiio  intuitive  impmssions  re- 
rt'ived  in  these  eoiiesiH.ndenees,  whether  for  prohihition, 
incentive,  aspiration,  or  otherwise,  are  always  riKlit.  Tho 
iHiliet  IH  tiiat  thiH  outwide  all-kiiowlefIj,'e  is  never  wronif 

Now  tho  univenml  agreement  of  all  tho  hosts  of  roliffious 
men  w,  to  say  the  least  of   it,  very  sinpiilar.     One  would 
think    tliat   they    mijfht    have   fought   over    this    point   as 
they  have  over  every  other,     litit  s.,  far  as  the  facts  appear, 
they    never   have.     Material   seienee    looks   on,   ami    says : 
"  Ihis  iHjlief,  t(.  these  religious  men,  seems  to  lie  a   great 
reality;  hut  it  is  not  contained  in  our  system  for  research." 
1  hen  the  religious  very  properly  reply:  "  The  spiritual  man 
has  as  good  a  right  to  tell  of  the  spiritual  world  as  material  * 
science  has  to  speak  of  the  material  world."     To  this,  l»ro- 
fessor  Huxley,  speaking  for  science,  gives  a  limited  consent. 
Jn  etlect,  he  says  that  science  has  always  l)een  willing  to 
discuss  and  profit  hy  any  proofs  that   the    leligious    could 
bring  forward.     He  says  that  "  If  any  one  is  able  to  make 
good  the  assertion  that  this  belief  about  the  soul  rests  upon 
valid  evidence  and  sound  reasoning,  then  it  appears  to  me 
that  the  soul  and  the  study  and  knowledge  of  soul  must  take 
a  place  as  a  part  of  science."    (In  the  last  sentence,  which  is 
quoted  correctly  near  the  commencement  of  this  chapter,  the 
word  » theology  "  is  removed,  and  words  concerning  "  soul " 
substituted,  so  as  to  extend  the  professor's  meaning  to  our 
point  — and  in  a  way  he  would  not,  presumably,  object  to.) 
Ihe  trouble  is,  however,  that  the  religious  have  not  been 
able  to  produce  such  proofs  of  the  existence  of  soul  as  are 
recognized  by  material  science.     For  many  yeara  there  has 
seemed  to  be  no  hope  that  the  religious  would  be  able  to 
prove  a  reality  which  to  them  was  only  present  in  the  intui- 
tions.    And  in  the  meantime  the  whole  educated  world  has 
been  divided  into  two  classes— those  who  acknowledge  the 
spiritual  world  and  those  who  do  not. 


88 


THE  ASCENT  OP   LIFE. 


!.:",i 


At  this  juncture  an  experimenter  says:  "If  you  deal  with 
a  suitable  human  putlenl  in  the  ways  described,  you  can 
prove  for  yourself,  beyond  all  doubt,  that  the  belief  of 
religious  people  is  correct  when  they  say  that  the  human 
soul  is  capable  of  being  in  correspondence  with  some  outside 
knowledge  which  apparently  knows  everytliing,  and  whicli 
is  continually  present."  This  experimenter  gives  the  details 
of  his  experiments.  He  is  not  ignorant  of  the  values  or 
woithlessness  attaching  to  human  testimony.  He,  however, 
asks  for  no  further  credence  beyond  that  which  will  place 
other  students  in  such  coui-ses  of  inquiry  as  will  exhibit  to 
them  the  same  truths.  If  others  thus  accomplish  similar 
results,  and  publish  them  truthfully,  then  the  whole  field  of 
natural  religion  must  "take  its  place  as  a  part  of  science." 
As  religion  is  gradually  shown  to  be  a  scientific  lu'ccssity 
and  a  proved  reality,  the  resulting  gain  to  tlie  world  will  be 
seen  to  be  so  immea.surable  that  others  will  also  feel  it  their 
duty  to  publish  assisting  facts. 


tr^k, .._ 


"3r:rsS'J5rj*KKiSS^^83K;33S5wn^^-a»*^^ 


Chapter  IV 


There  is  one  word  which  may  soon  be  erased  from  onr 
mental  dictionaries  —  the  vvord  "supornatnral."  We  have 
so  little  further  use  for  it.  When  we  prove  to  oui-selves,  by 
scientific  method,  the  existeiice  of  spirit  and  some  of  its 
l)owers  in  human  beings  — when  we  utilize  it  by  artificial 
means  and  find  that  mesmerized  i)atients  can  acquire  knowl- 
edge through  it  as  freely  as  water  from  a  public  tap  —  tlien 
we  appreciate  that  spirit  is  as  much  a  part  of  our  makeup  as 
our  limbs  are,  —  in  fact,  a  more  essential  portion,  for  the" 
limbs  can  be  parted  with,  but  that  which  is  the  life  in  us  is 
the  power  of  resisting  death. 

With  even  this  much  insight,  the  word  supernatural 
begins  to  lose  its  meaning  ;  but  if  we  continue  our  studies 
into  the  lower  animal  world,  and  in  other  directions,  it  seems 
to  lose  its  meaning  altogether.  And  this,  because  almost 
everything  we  lia  /e  called  supernatural  is  merely  natural. 

Every-day  mattera  become  explained.  If  we  take  a  dog, 
or  cat,  or  any  other  animal,  and  tame  it,  train  it,  live  with 
it,  teach  it  confidence,  fearlessness,  and  love,  we  know  what 
processes  are  being  utilized.  Our  will  is  continually  im- 
printing itself  on  the  animal  soul  which  is  submissive,  till 
at  last  the  correspondences  become  so  complete  that  both 
master  and  beast  understiind  eacli  otlier  in  a  really  mar- 
vellous but  perfectly  natural  way.  In  every  grade  of  life  we 
find  these  spirit  processes.  Wherever  there  is  brain,  even  in 
the  poorest  creature  whose  sen  .orium  is  represented  by  the 
most  primitive  ganglion,  there  are  Uie  jnedia  to  leceivc  such 
impressions  from  the  all-knowledge  as  will  be  necessary  for 
its  proper  existence.  Although  in  a  different  grade,  the 
lizard,  in  his  daily  existence,  is  as  near  to  God  as  the  arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury. 


i  :.*:su^iiiiissim,^' . 


JiSiai 


■-•a;- 


I!!  ; 


40 


THE   ASCENT   OF    MFE, 


'  i  !lfl 
ill , 

m 


l'^I:l 


Let  us  keep  before  us  the  opening  words  of  this  work, 
that  "  Life,  from  its  lowest  forms  to  its  highest  spiritual 
existences,  is  a  succession  of  grades  or  plateaux,  each  one 
intermingling  with  its  commencing  edges  in  the  plane  below, 
and  with  its  later  edges  merged  in  the  plane  that  is  next 
above  it."  Life,  in  the  animal  gradi's,  may  be  compared  in 
an  unsatisfactory  way  to  a  wide  stair-carpet,  woven  of  innu- 
merable threads,  passing  up  to  and  along  its  different  pla- 
teaux, joining  all  together,  and  of  one  piece  from  beginning 

to  end.  .        ,    ,    „ 

Now,  why  should  life  ascend  ?  Let  us  unagnie  that  all 
ordera  of  living  things  were  placed  here  by  sudden  creation, 
and  then  let  us  ask,  "  Why  should  they  ascend?  ''^  Darwin's 
great  answer  a**  to  the  "survival  of  the  fittest"  covei-s  an 
enormous  field.  But  how  did  "the  fittest"  acquire  their 
superlative  fitness  ?  The  answer  from  soul-science  is  —  sim- 
ply by  wanting  it.  How  did  the  chimpanzee  described  by 
Darwin  learn  to  crack  a  nut  with  a  stone  ?  No  one  taught 
him.  He  could  not  crack  it  with  his  teeth,  and  being  hungry 
he  brooded  over  his  necessity.  He  so  desired  and  yearned 
for  success  that  at  last  he  drew  wordless  enlightenment 
from  the  all-knowledge  with  which  his  animal  soul  was  in 
correspondence. 

This  may  sound  absurd.     But  regard  every  kmd  of  in- 
vention in  man.     What  is  invention?     Will  any  quantity 
of  "  stored  sensation  "  in  the  brain  produce  a  new  thing  or 
a  new  idea?     Will  any  apparatus  give  out  more  than  it 
receives?      To   imagine   a   man   bereft   of   his   soul-powers 
recalls  the  case  of   the  chicken  running  about  without  its 
head.     Ask  any  inventor  how  he  invents,  and  he  will  say, 
"  I  just  brooded  over  it,  night  and  day,  until  at  last  it  all 
came  to  me."     This  is  the  tiuth.     It  was  the  same  with  the 
chimpanzee.     No  doubt  he  Ixviiged  the  nut  against  the  stone 
in  the  usual  method  till  he  was  tired,  and  then  in  a  happy 
moment  of  inspiration  banged  the  stone  against  the  nut. 
The  gaining  of  knowledge  through  the  correspondences  of 
the  soul  need  not  be  accompanied  by  any  sensation  of  holi- 
ness.    Instances  are  subsequently  given  where  the  motive 
was  entirely  unworthy  and  even  wicked. 

To  return.  How  did  Darwin's  "fittest"  acquir*  their 
superlative  fitness?  The  answer  of  material  science  is, 
"  By  the  continual  breeding  among  those  fittest  who  surviv* 


akiii^i£ivi,.r.A..  iliJ^'fSt.W^^.i, 


TIIK    ASCKNT   OF    LfFE. 


41 


111  the  combiit  for  existence."  lint  liow,  with  tlie  same  size 
bullet-mouhl,  can  you  ])io(luoe  one  bullet  thut  will  be  lamer 
than  tlie  rest?  How  with  a  pair  of  full-sized  animals  can 
you  ae.iune  offspn"ff  wlueh  will  be  larjrer  than  either  its 
parents  or  ancestors?  Uuw  in  the  continued  breeding  of 
bulldogs  for  a  special  object  can  you  produce  one  with  a 
more  prognathous  jaw  than  any  of  its  family  ?  These  de- 
velopments have  often  been  aceomi.lished  witli  animals 
But  without  the  power  as  explained  by  soul  science,  this 
result  would  U>  as  impossible  as  to  turn  out  a  large  bullet 
from  a  small  matrix. 

This  opens  the  subject  of  the  i)ower  of  spirit  and  ideals  to 
alter  torm.      Ihis  is  too  apparent  in  every-day  life  to  require 
much  comment.     During  earliest  infancy,  man  turns  towards 
his  future  with  a  face  almost  as  blank  as  a  new  sheet  of  note 
paper.     He  writes  his  life  on  his  face.     As  certjiin  animali- 
ties  become  prominent  in  his  nature,  these  are  necessarily 
written  in   his  countenance.     Different  creatures  of  nature 
are  the  material  types  of  the  passions  and  powei>i  and  weak- 
nesses.    Consequently  any  following  of  the  same  instincts 
as  these  creatures  possess  must  necessarily  produce  counte- 
nances which   will  conform  to  nature's  set  types.     If  the 
babe  in  his  subsequent  life  gives  iniority  in  himself  to  those 
passions  which  are  typified  in  animal  form,  then  he  must 
necessarily  take  some  of  their  lik-uess.     If  he  becomes  a 
lowest-grade  lawyer,  he  will  resemole  the  ravening  wolf  or 
the  wily  fox.     If  he  be  continually  poised  for  some  swoop, 
financial  or  otherwise,  he  will  resemble  a  hawk.     If  he  be- 
comes a  newspaper  rei)orter  who  lives  on  the  social  garbage 
ot  unhappy  homes,  he  will  resemble  the  slinking  scavenger 
dogs  of  oriental  cities.     If  he  l)ecomes  one  of  those  creatures 
who  haunt  the  lowest  slums  of  all  great  cities,  he  will  issue 
at  night  like  his  counteri)art,  the  hyena,  and  like  his  terrible 
animal   type  he  will   be  gaunt,   fierce,  cowardly,  slinking, 
suspicious,  restless,  murderous,  and  inaccessible  to  the  im- 
provement of  kind  spiritual  influences.     The  grown  hyena 
IS  untamable.*     He  is  the  type  of  terrible  and  irredeemable 
qualities  ;  he  lives  in  ways  from  which  other  animals  recoil. 
AjidJ,he^ough-fa('e(U)aj)yjni^^  hyena. 


'    !!   .' 


! ;  ,1 


ii. 


42 


IIIK    ASCKNT    OK    LIB'K. 


Tlifvo  is  virtually  no  limit  to  the  ext«nt  to  which  spirit 
alters  countenance."    Some  dog's  faces  are  to  human  ones  as 
Hyperion  to  a  satyr.     Some  of  them  are  so  stamped  witli 
high  qualities  that  no  artistic  picture  of  Chnst  could  afford 
to    entirely    ignore    them.      F<.r  true  love    is  there  -  that 
which  has   no  haekground  of  passion;  love  so  perfect  that 
it  idealizes  sulnnission;  the  love  which  heautihes  and  sanc- 
tifies  the  LnaiHlest  and  most  womanly  of   women.      1  etty 
people  dislike  the  snggesticm  that  hest  love  has  m  it  some 
of  the  unlin.iled  trust  of  a  quadruped  ;  and  few  undei^  and 
how  nmch  Letter  it  would  he  if  some  sublimities  of  a  dogs 
soul  could  be  more  often  found  in  the  masses  of  mankind. 
Thev  do  not  know  of  the  courage,  reverence,  readiness  tor 
hardship,  readiness  for  anything,  whieh  a  dogs  love  for  a 
human   c<mlains.     "Ouida"says:    "  ^  es  !    a  great  love  is 
a  great  holiness.      It  d..es  not  of  necessity  imply  a  great 
intelligence,  but  it  must  spring  from  a  great  nature. 

While  walking  in  crowded  streets  this  soul  s  moulding  ot 
the  countenance  is  continually  before  us      The  effects  pro- 
duced in  this  way  are  familiar  to  all.     Why  is  it  that  no  one 
ever  fails  to  rec-o"guize  a  thoroughly  K«>od  a"d  kind  woman 
by  her  c.mntenance?     Hut  men  who  have  desired  t.o  be  con- 
sidered truly  scientific  have  not,  as  a  rule,  attributed  these 
effects  to  "soul"  — the  existence  of  which  science   is  not 
yet   quite  prepared  to  admit.     Every  one  knows  liow  the 
same  man's  face  may,  even  on  the  same  day,  resemble  dif- 
ferent animal  types.     But  not  every  one  is  aware  of  what  is 
m,injr  on   while   allowing   himself   to  Ih5  swept  away   and 
altei^Ml  by  different  passions.     Nor  do  people  pay  much  re- 
card   to  the   effects  of  spirit  upon  generation.     Every  one 
notices  how  a  man's  face  grows  swinish  from  overeating  ; 
but  few  understand  that  children  will  be  born  with  this  or 
other  appearances  when  cither  of  the  generatoi-s  is  in  the 
spiritual   pha.e    which  can    only  reproduce    in  nature  s  set 
firms.     Some  children  who  are  born  with  these  unfortunate 
appearances  afterwards  outgn.w  the  first  effects  of  parental 
i^^norance  and  perhaps  temporary  ammahty.    Twins  are  alike 
l^cause  both  receive  the  same  spiritual  formation.     But  the 
other  children  of  the  same  parents,  conceived  at  different 
limes  may  differ  greatly. 

Similarly,  as  an  example  of  spirit  formativeness,  a  genius 
is  the  offspring  of  parents  who  loved  each  other.     Natures 


■'-^^^^^^j^^^'-'iAjj^^i^^^iK^^li^i^^Slil^ifJg^^Bi^^sim  l^;ig^^^fe^^ft5^^^'^*t^^^BwSfefe^^g^ 


5  alike 
ut  tl 


le 


fferent 


genius 
Liture's 


THE    ASCKNT   OF    LIFR. 


43 


..'>?^.^ii-^>*-i.^Alto.. 


l>ioofs  are  its  results.  Sliiikesi)care  creatcfl  because  liis  mind 
possessed  the  faculty  of  verifying  itself  in  the  truth  abysses. 
He  could  run  the  whole  gauuit,  from  a  hyena  to  a  Hamlet, 
and  lie  delighted  a  world  because  he  was  the  spokesman  of 
tliat  which  gives  delight,  namely,  nature.  Tluit  he  was  a 
child  of  love  is  proved  even  without  the  written  records, 
because  the  gieatest  are  produced  when  the  conditions  for 
reproduction  are  most  complete.  The  most  complete  condi- 
tions necessarily  include  love,  because  love  is  nature's  elevat- 
ing princii)le,  wliich  she  teaches  through  tlie  sexual  passions 
in  order  to  lift  human  beings  to  the  higher  spiritual  jjlanes. 

The  more  we  study  animal  form,  the  more  we  see  how  it  is 
moulded  by  the  spirit  formative  powers.  We  see  how  the 
hind  runs  until  caught,  and  how  elegance  of  form  and  the 
reciuisites  for  speed  are  imparted  to  the  offspring.  Nay,  one 
may  tJike  much  of  Darwin's  work  and  understand  further 
paragraphs  to  each  chapter.  Where  he  with  infinite  patience 
formulates  great  laws,  they  will  seem  insutlicicnt.  To  take 
an  imaginary  ease,  he  might  ascribe  development  of  the 
ant-eater's  proboscis  to  the  fact  that  those  with  the  longest) 
proboscis  could  procure  food  when  others  could  not.  This  is 
so  far  reasonable.  But  to  su[)pose  that  any  elongation  of  the 
])roboscis  could  arrive  without  further  assistance  seems  absurd. 
He  is  right  in  showing  that  the  snout  grows  longer  in  con- 
tinuous breeding,  but  he  utterly  fails  to  show  the  reason  for 
its  elongation.  He  does  not  say  that  the  animal's  life-long 
desire  and  necessity  to  reach  in  through  the  ant>holes  imprints 
itself  on  the  shape  of  its  offspring ;  or  that  this  necessity  is 
being  continually  experienced  by  the  mother  during  the 
period  of  gestation. 

Darwin  failed  to  answer  the  (juestion  of  this  chapter  (which 
was  also  the  scientific  question  of  his  life),  namely,  "Why 
does  life  ascend,  instead  of  always  ren;aiiiiiig  at  the  same 
level?"  He  did  not  see,  or  failed  to  mention,  two  of  the 
greatest  laws  of  nature :  Firat,  That  whenever  a  creature's 
sensorium  experiences  an  urgent  want,  then  its  mind  or 
mental  essence  receives  from  the  all-knowledge  such  enlight- 
enment as  it  is  capable  of  requiring.  And  second,  Where 
such  a  desire  is  the  outcome  of  the  creature's  daily  necessity 
(in  procuring  food,  or  otherwise)  then  such  continuoi'.s  desire 
is  imprinted  during  the  embryotic  stages  on  the  form  of  its 
offspring,  thus  accommodating  its  shape  to  the  uecessitie''  of 


44 


THK    ASCKNT   OK    LIKK. 


its  coming  existence  ;  also  that  enibryotic  alterations  result 
from  the  presence  of  ideals  which  are  vivid  in  the  parental 

mind.t 

The  influence  of  the  mind  and  ideals  upon  tlie  embryo  is 
exhibited  in  many  ways.     The  children  by  a  second  husband 
ofU'U  rcscnil)le  the  lii-st  husband.     The  fright  of  the  mother, 
or  the  witnessing  of  some  terrible  deformity,  or  her  being 
bitten  by  a  dog,  have  (among  vast  numbers  of  other  cases) 
produced  lamentable  residts  on  offspring.*  The  prevalence 
of  the  desiie  for  beauty  produces  all  the  human  beauty  we 
see,  and  nothing  is  better  capable  of   proof  than  that  the 
highest  ideals  produce  the  highest  beauty.     No  people  pos- 
sess beauty  which  suggests  any  higher  ideals  than  their  own. 
In   England,  where  exalted   virtues,  propriety  of  life   and 
love  for  all  that  is  beautiful  in  art  and  literature  combine  to 
form  the  ideals  of  the  retined  classes,  we  witness  a  tyi)e  of 
high-minded   beauty  that  is  rarely  found  elsewhere.     Indi- 
vidual cases  of  it  may  bo  seen  in  Boston  and  Canada.     But 
one  may  walk  for  weeks  in  Paris  without  discovering  a  single 
instance  of  it.     Some  few  distinguished  faces  there  a,re,  but 
none  that  altogether  transcend  Parisian  ideals.     Paris  is  in 
them  all.     In  New  York  it  is  the  same ;  though  the  faces,  on 
the  average,  are  somewhat  more  moral  than  in  Paris.     Ele- 
gance and  prettiness  abound  in  New  York :  but  as  art  and 
literature  are  almost  entirely  absent,  and  as  the  local  ideals 
are  almost  entirely  confined  to  love  of  money,  elegance,  and 
pleasure,  the  faces  of  course  show  no  more  than  that  which 
is  sought  after.     The  New  York  countenances  become  fine 
in  those  who  are  fairiy  well  on  in  years,  and  who  have  loved 
and  suffered  and  won  the  high  beauty  by  virtue   of   their 
spirits'  development  and  supremacy. 

It  would  be  easy  to  show  that  in  every  country  the  same 
rule  holds  good  — that  people  are  simply  that  which  they 
wish,  that  which  they  idealize  and  seek.  The  whole  of  it  is 
a  self-evident  proof  of  the  spirit  formativeness. 

The  following  line  of  thought  will  assist  toward  indicating 
reasons  for  these  enibryotic  alterations.  Let  us  first  consider 
the  creation  of  increased  human  beauty  resulting  from  the 
presence  of  ideals  and  images  of  beauty  in  the  parental 
minds.  Science  sufficiently  shows  that  the  brain  is  the 
product  of  sensation  —  an  animal  production  which  increases 
as  sensation  multiplies,  and   by  continued  use  develops  in 


•  t  vide  Appendix  (A). 


X 


"afer  "^J" 


THE   ASCENT  OF   LIFE. 


4n 


size,  flomewhat  like  the  bodily  ftiuscles.  It  represents  all 
the  animal  desiivs,  ni't'd.s,  aiul  sensations,  which  continually 
multiply  as  man  evolves. 

Apparently  the  hrain  is  vivified  by  the  life  principle,  which 
brings  to  it  vibratory  conditions  possessing  peculiarities  anal- 
ogous to  those  we  notice  in  electricity.  Hut  we  lind  all 
animal  life  surrounded  by  simie  principle  of  nature  which 
has  attributes  of  omniscience ;  and  it  is  evidently  the  life's 
alliances  with  this  knowledge-principle  that  produce  in  this 
combination  the  consciousness  of  personal  identity.  The 
brain  registers  its  sensations  on  the  ego,  and  the  ego  makes 
known  to  the  brain  the  knowledge  which  is  obtained  through 
its  correspondences.  T'lese  correspondences  are,  as  already 
proved,  capable  of  being  co'.iplete  with  other  egos.  We  have 
shown  that  the  mind  of  one  person  may  be  totally  in  the 
possession  of  the  mind  of  another.  And  this  result  is  quite 
certain,  namely,  that  the  ego  may  acquire  knowledge  in 
three  ways  :  —  Fii-st,  through  its  bodily  brain  sensations;  or 
second,  from  other  egos,  through  the  silent  vibratory  mesmeric 
processes  ;  or  third,  by  the  same  vibratory  processes  drawing 
knowledge  from  the  knowledge-principle  of  nature. 

An  animal's  knowledge,  therefore,  primarily  came,  and  still 
comes,  through  the  force  of  the  animal  desires  compelling 
the  spiritual  part  of  the  mind  to  acquire  information  through 
its  correspondences  and  alliances  with  the  knowledge  prin- 
ciple. (  While  saying  this,  the  author  has  no  wish  to  seem  in 
antagonism  with  the  Buddhistic  theory,  that  that  which  is 
here  called  the  knowledge-principle  of  nature  is  a  remote 
ability  for  omniscience  which  is  latent  in  every  human  soul. 
Both  researches  are  agreed  as  to  the  soul's  alliance  with  an 
all-knowledge  principle ;  and,  at  this  early  stage,  it  matters 
little  in  results  whether  this  reality  be  a  latent  quality  of  the 
soul  or  an  all-pervading  principle  of  nature.  The  author 
tinds  it  necessary  to  hold  to  the  results  ot  his  own  studies, 
because  the  Buddhist  theory  does  not  uxteud  itself  to  the 
lowest  forms  of  animal  life  and  consequently  fails  to  explain 
the  earlier  evolutions.)  The  above  is  only  another  Avay 
(though  a  very  different  way)  of  repeating  what  religion 
has  always  said  —  that  the  animal  receives  that  which  is 
necessary  for  it. 

Therefore  the  ego  may  fairly  be  called  the  total  of  a 
man's  sensations   and  impressions;  and  this,  whether   the 


-,^-^mim»mmM^h 


smim<is^i»!sss^s£ii3ns>im0s^^smi!tsnistii!^  ,^^sfs#«,fw«.  - 


46 


THE   ASCENT  OF   LIFE. 


impressions  come  from  the  lower  animal  side,  or  from  other 
egos,  or  Ixj  gained  by  mental  effort  or  otherwise  from  the 
knowledge-principle  of  nature.  Thus,  when  one  lives  among 
beautiful  people  and  the  highest  art,  these  supply,  In- 
the  mechanism  of  the  eye  and  otherwise,  a  large  proportion 
of  this  total  which  is  the  real  man;  and  as  all  the  life  in 
nature  reproduces  itself,  it  follows  that  this  total,  this  entirety 
of  the  man,  nnist  reproduce,  to  an  iniccrtain  extent,  those 
impressions  which  form  so  large  a  part  of  itself. 

Witness  the  fact  that  in  criminal  and  low-lived  district* 
the  increase  of  lieauty  is  hardly  traceable.  Both  the  women 
and  the  men  who  image  each  other  in  the  soul  are  of  low 
types,  and  must  forever  reproduce  themselves  as  they  are, 
and  also  animalities  of  all  kinds,  until  they  in  some  ways 
intermingle  with  or  become  assisted  by  the  refinement  of 
a  human  aristocracy.  Nature  points  to  an  aristocracy  that 
rules,  and  inferiors  who  are  ruled.  One  will  fruitlessly 
search  l)oth  the  Five  Points  and  Seven  Dials  for  any  one 
showing  the  slim  spiritual  refinement  and  helpful  loveliness 
of,  say,  a  Canova  statue.  Yet  where  low-lived  people  with 
countenances  no  better  than  a  Kalmuck's  have  become  rich, 
we  see,  even  in  two  generations,  an  almost  miraculous  differ- 
ence, after  the  children  have  been  led  towards  higher  ideals 
(even  if  only  social  ones)  and  have  travelled  and  employed 
tlieir  faculty  for  imaging  among  those  things  which  refine, 
both  in  art  and  literature. 

Under  the  law  of  Lycurgus,  certain  Greeks  surrounded 
their  child-bearing  wives  witli  beautiful  pictures,  images  and 
statues  which  reproduced  the  highest  ideals  of  human  sym- 
metry, activity  and  grace.  The  custom  was  enforced,  and 
the  result  of  this,  and  many  other  artistic  influences,  was  that 
a  people  were  produced  whose  beauty  and  elegance  have 
never  been  surpassed.  These  early  influences  are  still 
markedly  noticeable  among  the  modei-n  Greeks,  wherever  the 
brutalizing  influences  of  Turks  a.  I  other  invaders  and  for- 
eigners have  not  since  been  at  won. 

Wc  need  not  say  that  God  produ  ^s  lovely  children.  It 
is  the  god  in  man.  The  process  conta  "s  neither  miracle  nor 
chance;  it  is  evidently  as  certain  as  arithmetic.  Thus  it  was 
said  that  the  children  of  the  painter  Millais  were,  in  early 
life  at  least,  singularly  beautiful.  How  could  they  be  other- 
wise, after  Millais  had  idealized  and  imaged  beauty  during 


THK    ASCKN'T   OK    LIKE.  47 

all  his  lift'?  —  ihoiitfh  in  tliis  ciisu  we  must  not  foijjet  tliat 
tluiir  mother  was  the  person  copied  into  that  picture  railed 
"  The  Huguenots,"  —  a  face  that  has  created  a  lovely  ideal 
for  millious. 

This  faculty  for  iinajjing  which  has  so  much  to  do  with  a 
huiuan  ego,  when  this  is  considered  as  the  record  and  total 
of  a  man's  impressions,  must  Ije  noticed  when  the  question 
of  embryotic  alterations  is  l)efore  us.  It  is,  of  course, 
present  in  the  animals;  and  in  man  indicates,  often  in  the 
most  trivi.al  ways,  it8  stupendous  issues  and  possibilities. 
There  would  be  no  art  or  religion  without  it.  The  painter 
and  actor  live  upon  the  visualizing  faculty.  It  may  be  the 
most  dangerous  or  the  most  ui)lifting  faculty  in  the  human 
makeup.  When  intense  and  true  to  nature  it  is  genius; 
when  too  intense  and  untrue  it  is  insanity.  It  has  brouglit 
man  his  best  creations,  as  well  as  his  !iallucinations.  As  he 
idealized  virtue  or  vice,  this  imaging  f  iculty  has  swept  him 
on,  realizing  for  him  the  pictures  which  delighted  him, 
whether  of  good  or  evil.  When  urgei  ou  the  one  hand  by 
drink,  drugs,  perfumes,  and  hasheesh,  or,  on  the  other  hanil, 
by  prayer,  fasting,  and  concentration,  it  shows  the  extent  of 
man's  range.  Sometimes  it  is  the  best  of  all  servants;  but 
with  the  opium,  etc.,  it  is  a  master  which  pretends  to  be  a 
slave.  With  actors,  who  often  assume  the  characters  of  other 
people  more  easily  than  exhibit  any  of  their  own,  it  is  espe- 
cially dangerous,  for  facts  have  shown  that  when  one  of  these 
idealizes  a  vice,  his  faculty  for  imaging  sweeps  him  away. 

As  in  the  little  drawing-room  experiments  in  mesmerism, 
these  processes,  which  also  have  such  unending  issues,  show 
themselves  in  every-day  trivialities.  An  advertisement 
appeared  for  a  long  time  on  the  back  of  the  London  Graphic. 
In  a  red  disc,  the  letters  of  the  name  "  Pears  "  appeared  in 
white.  You  looked  at  it  for  some  time,  then  closed  your 
eyes  tightly,  and  afterwards  the  lettei-s  vividly  appeared  to 
mind's  sight  in  other  colors.  Somebody  explained  about 
the  red  color  exciting  the  optic  nerves,  and  the  letters  repro- 
ducing themselves  through  reflex  action  in  supplemental 
colore.  The  explanation,  whatever  it  was,  sounded  more 
learned  than  satisfactory.  For  what  is  "sight"?  Are 
there  two  kinds  of  sight,  or  only  one?  My  mesmerized 
patients,  while  asleep  and  with  eyes  closed,  saw  everything  I 
saw  or  told  them  to  see.     Then,  also,  there  is  the  sight  of 


*Sii»!»»a«IBKii«(g>a»H(B!!l«W"J««S:«ftSS*t^^^ 


48 


THE   ASCENT  OP   LIFE. 


the  eyes.  But  ivro  there  two  kinds  of  sifjht?  I  think  not. 
The  syHtem  of  nerves  and  lenses  (tailed  the  eyes  seem  like 
some  delicate  ])liotogra|)hie  apparatus  to  convey  sensation  or 
suf^gestiou  to  the  interior  faeulty,  which,  in  hoth  ahove 
cases,  does  tlie  seeinj^. 

In  tiiis  adveitisement  for  the  selling  of  a  soap,  we  see  a 
trivial  manifestation  of  a  great  scheme  of  nature,  that  is, 
moreover,  as  truly  a  vision  in  a  small  way  as  the  appearing 
of  the  Virgin  at  I-,ourdes.  While  rcgaiding  sight  solely  as 
an  internal  faculty  jjrodnced  hy  tlie  vihratory  effects  of 
mesmerism  or  those  of  the  optic  aj)i»aratus,  we  underatand 
how  real  some  unrealities  may  appear.  In  this  small  experi- 
ment the  effect  is  of  course  rather  transient ;  yet  it  indicates 
the  processes  and  iiow  sights  which  produce  excitement  and 
shock  may  he  almost  indelihle  and  may  he  endlessly  repro- 
duced until  they  form  a  large  part,  and  perhaps  an  insanely 
large  part,  of  a  human  heing's  toUil  of  impressions.  With 
the  lover  of  nature  and  of  the  heautiful,  it  will  lead  to  the 
highest  good,  and  with  the  vicious,  just  the  opposite.  This 
is  why  sensitive  people  instinctively  avoid  the  sight  of  hide- 
ous things  and  deformities,  unless  they  nerve  themselves  for 
the  occasion,  like  a  hosi)itid  nui-se.  Without  knowing  why, 
the  effects  thus  produced  are  dreaded,  especially  as  a  surprise, 
though  the  spirit  when  strung  can  endure  anything  of  the 
kind.  Yet  the  aversion  is  intense  —  this  heing  nature's  safe- 
guard from  effects  which  may  he  so  disastrous,  especially  to 
young  girls  and  those  ahout  to  become  mothere. 

This  faculty  for  imaging  can  only  Ixi  suggested  here  in  a 
few  words.  Readere  will  follow  the  points  and  easily  satisfy 
themselves  with  facts  as  they  go  along.  This,  and  the 
presence  of  predominant  ideals  and  desires,  with  all  their 
registrations,  both  pictorial  and  otherwise,  and  whether 
helpful  or  hurtful,  go  to  make  that  total  of  a  human  being's 
impressions,  which  must,  to  an  uncertain  extent,  reproduce 
itself  in  the  creation  of  offspring.  For  what  is  there  of  a 
man  apart  from  his  total  of  impressions  ?  Absolutely  nothing. 
The  human  soul  holds  its  registrations.  It  is  either  sensi- 
tized to  the  higher  spiritual  grades,  or  it  is  not.  As  the  seat 
of  memory,  it  never  forgets.  This  is  shown  under  certain 
conditions,  as  in  cases  of  almost  complete  drowning,  when 
men  see  the  whole  of  their  lives  spread  out  before  them, 
including  all  those  things  which  hud  Imjcu  forgotten. 


TIIK    AHCKNT   OF    MFK. 


49 


Exhaust  or  impair  or  live  out  the  vital  Htroiigth,  and 
memory  wanes  or  disappears  for  a  time.  Htit  no  man  by 
Knowing  old  loses  his  memoiy.  He  only  lns<>s  tlie  animal 
passions  and  the  foree  whicth  they  »ise  to  make  the  soul  <lo 
Its  work.  Thus  old  men  approach  death  "babbling  o'  green 
fields,"  or  of  the  most  vivid  impressions  of  early  youth,  such 
as  hunting,  which  are  so  often  the  last  to  disappear  l)ecause 
the  remnant  of  animal  virility  keeps  them  in  evidence  to  the 
last.  Yet  it  often  iiappens  that  old  men  in  an  access  of 
anger,  or  under  stinndant,  will  remend.or  things  which,  as 
their  families  suppose,  have  been  for  long  years  forgotten. 
Or,  on  their  deathbeds,  when  their  bodies  have  already  grown 
cold,  and  are  virtually  dead,  their  sotds  acquire  moments  of 
such  astonishing  liuiidity  that  (!very  one  is  frightened.  He 
who  has  been  ind)ecile  for  years  siuidcnly  know's  all  his  past, 
and  shows  his  knowledge  at  once,  though  often  too  weak  for 
speeeii.  But  there  is  heie  no  reason  for  fright.  In  the 
study  of  soul,  all  these  things  cea.se  to  bo  phenomena,  and 
take  their  place  as  that  which  nuist  be  expected  and  pre- 
pared^ for.  It  is  simply  the  same  truth  which  this  work 
many 'times  reiterates  —  that  when  the  body  is  numbed  to 
the  point  where  its  sensation  ceivses,  there  may  be  an  internal 
illumination  which  transcends  all  the  comprehensions  exhib- 
ited at  any  other  time.  It  is  only  by  studying  mesmerism 
that  we  gain  a  knowledge  of  what  those  last  wonderful  looks 
of  the  dying  mean. 

Darwin's  great  theory  of  "  natural  selection  "  is  part  of  the 
answer  supplied  by  him  and  science  to  the  question  of  this 
chapter:  "  Why  do  the  ordei-s  of  life  ascend  ?  "  Readers  are 
aware  of  tlie  arguments  of  this  theory.  It  is  said  that  in 
the  animal  kingdom  males  will  be  selected  who  are  most 
competent  to  defend  or  provide  for  their  mates— that  the 
brightest-colored  birds  and  best-conditioned  animals  will  be 
preferred,  etc.  The  facts  shown  in  support  of  this  theory 
are  no  doubt  correct;  and  yet  they  explain  no  reason  for 
improvement  or  ascent.  No  two  parents  will  produce  off- 
spring more  developed  than  themselves,  unless  spirit  forma- 
tiveness,  through  desire  or  mental  ideals,  is  at  work. 

The  answers  intended  to  be  made  to  the  question  put  as 
above  have  in  the  foregoing  paragrajjlis  bt^come  sufficiently 
clear.  The  experiments  of  mesmerism  show  how  the  whole 
animal   kingdom  may  receive  such  enlightenment  as  will 


:    ! 

i    ! 
'    i 

i  ! 


i  'I 


■I   ! 


lit 


^<'k^i;^ -1..^*,. 


60 


THK  ABCBNT  OF   LIFB. 


serve  to  protect,  giiitlo,  and  provide.     So  far,  and  by  virtue 
of  this  law  only,  tlii'io  may  not  Ikj  nmch  rouHon  for  OHcent, 
lH!(!aiiso  animals  will  not  seok  moro  t3nlij,'litonmt!nt  than  tlu'ir 
own  nf(!i%Hsiti(!H  call  for.     Hnt  the  proof  of  the  formativcncss 
of  mind  or  spirit  upon  embryo,  and  even  upon  adult,  can  be 
midtiplied   nil   infinitum.     And   when   once   this   power  "is 
admitted,  tlie   development  and  ascent  of   animal   life    not 
only  Iteconuvs  possible,  but  also  that  which  must  of  necessity 
occur.     Onco  perceive  that  the  longinjjs,  ideals,  and  mental 
jiictures  regarding   daily  neco,'4sities   and  of   sexual  passiou 
have  an  effect  upon  the  embryo,  and  then  it  will  bo  seen  that 
progression  must  necessarily  o(!cur,  even  without  being  con- 
Hciously  sought.     It  will  lie  dist^erncd  that  in  the  contests  of 
nature  the  victors  would  be  pervaded  with  convictions  as  to 
their  own  strength  and  si/o  exaggerated  by  the  sexual  vanity 
which    is   everywiieie    luesent.     Tliese    ideals,  and   all    the 
qualities  which  delight  an  animal  according  to  bis  instincts, 
such  as  cunning,  speed,  power,  agility,  etc.,  would  be  often 
transmitted   in  increased   degree  to  the   offspring.*  At  the 
time  of   breeding,  the  sexual  vanities  are  always   at   their 
highest.     The  result  of  all  this  is  that  everything  in  nature 
seems  to   l)e  perfect  of   its  kind.     There   is   no   cause   for 
wonder  that  the  elephant,  the  type  of  power,  should  be  as 
large  as   he   is.     The  real  wonder  is  that  he  is  not   much 
lai'ger  —  as,  indeed,  the  mammoth  formerly  was. 

This  being  the  case,  it  will  bo  noted  that  as  soon  as  the 
earliest  animal  luunans  began  to  recognize  their  ingenuity,  it 
would  not  take  a  gieat  many  generations  to  create  a  vast 
difference  between  them  and  the  rest  of  creation.  It  is  clear 
that  no  animal  advantage  would  multiply  itself  and  create 
supremacy  so  rapidly  as  brain  power;  and  when  this  fact  is 
realized,  the  large  difference  between  man  and  ape  sink?  to 
nothingness  as  an  objection  to  the  reality  of  evolution.  If 
the  present  chimpanzees  and  other  ajjes,  with  their  ma  vel- 
lous  comprehensions  and  almost  human  bodies,  did  not  exist, 
our  own  origin  might  for  a  while  have  been  missed;  but,  as 
it  is,  no  one  can  scientilically  study  these  modern  apes  with- 
out feeling  stue  that  an  accidental  discovery  could  also  pro- 
duce with  them  an  advantage  which,  with  their  well-known 
imitativeness,  could  in  the  wild  state  lift  them  far  from  their 
neighlwrs. 

•  Sm  Appendix  (A). 


THE  as(;i:nt  ok  mik. 


61 


Tlio  n'ftM'cnoo  iiiiV(l«>  t'lsi-wlicic  tn  tin-  ( Iiim|iiiiiz<'t'  hrciikiii^ 
the  nut  with  a  Mmiv.  wiis  nitlicr  insiilliii^  to  liis  inti'lli^^M'iicc, 
be('!iiis(*  cliiin|)iiir/.(u>H  iiml  soiiitf  (itliiT  uuitikfyH  sci'iii  to  iiiidt'i- 
Hliiml  this  witlinnt  tuition.  'I'licir  |iiiH.siij,'i'  from  tlii'ir  iiirstMit 
liso  of  this  tool  to  tilt)  use  of  ii  |>it'f(!  of  woftd  as  a  <'lul)  sccuis 
no  j,'i('at  advance;  y('t  what  a  supicniacy  tliis  would  jifivc  to 
the  discoverer's  tiil>e,  which  would  imitate  him!  Au<l  if  the 
cluh  were  a  broken  hianch,  with  a  .sharp  cud,  how  soon  it.s 
I)ow<'r  to  wound  would  lead  to  tlu;  use  of  the  spear!  It  was 
a  lilK'ial  education  to  watcli  "  Mr.  Crowley,"'  late  of  the  Cen- 
tral Park  Museum,  unroll  a  earanu'l,  eat  it.  and  afterwards 
take  a  tooth-pick  from  the  keeper  and  solemnly  pick  all  his 
teeth.  lie  was  exceedingly  like  some  Irishmen  in  counte- 
nance, and  was  as  concentrated  a  studcMt  of  man  as  man  was 
of  him.  When  he  held  his  hands,  one  at  a  time,  through 
the  bars  aiul  insisted  upon  having  his  tinger-nails  chtaned  by 
the  keeper's  penknife,  he  almost  (icasc-d  to  1h>  anything  but 
human.*  Some  Hindoos  who  live  among  the  sacred  baboons 
say,  with  perhaps  unconscious  sarcasm,  that  these  creatures 
could  talk  if  they  liked,  and  only  refrain  from  speech  "  be- 
cause they  are  wise." 

Now  in  this  showing  how  the  different  orders  of  life  in 
nature  progress  and  ascend  by  virtue  of  the  two  laws  which 
are  disclosed  in  mesmerism  and  in  othtM-  ways,  it  would  be  a 
simple  method  to  adopt  the  earlier  i<lea,  and  say,  ''God  made 
all  tliese  creatures."  But  it  is  quite  evident  that  it  has  taken 
time  almost  like  eternities  to  move  from  tish  to  amphil)iaii 
and  from  reptile  to  beast,  and  this  argues  that  there  was 
some  impediment  to  rapid  progression.  Science  has  not  ex- 
plained the  ascent,  nor  has  religion  explained  the  great  de- 
lay; but  the  two  laws,  as  here  given,  exi>lain  both.  The 
fii-at  one  shows  that  although  all  living  things  liave  been  in 
correspondence  with  the  all-knowledge,  they  apparently  only 
acquiied  information  as  their  brain-structures  were  able  to  be 
cognizant  of  a  necessity. 

Because  the  soul  of  the  mesmerized  patient  can  make 
draughts  upon  the  all-knowledge,  it  need  not  necessarily  fol- 
low that  there  is  any  stream  of  instruction  proceeding  with' 
out  demand  from  the  all-knowledge  to  the  individual.     This 

•  I  (11(1  not  see  the  iierformance  niyself,  but  since  tlie  aliDve  wat  written,  liis  former 
keeper  and  other  men  about  the  menagerie  have  aHsureil  nie  tliat  Crowlev  woulil  uit  in 
a  chair  and  eat  bis  nieaU  at  a  table  with  big  keeper  —  hauilliiig  liiit  spoon  an  well  us 
any  child, 


62 


THK    ASCENT   OF    LIFIT.. 


is  what  explaiiKS  the  enonnous  time  occupiod  in  prochioinq 
the  animal  forms;   because  if  a  (iotl  had,  without  demand, 
been  continually  communicating  the  proper  coni-se  to  take, 
the  whole  of  the  forms  would  be  i)ioduc(al  in   a  short  time. 
This,  in  fact,  w.nild  be  but  little  different  from  a  slow  method 
of  direct  creation.     And  yet  it  is  beyond  question  that  the 
creature  receives  assistance  by  knowledge  imparted  when  (in 
a  manner)  demanded  as  a  necessity.     No  amount  of  heredi- 
tary instinct  will  guide  a  blind  seal,  or  even  a  seeing  one, 
across  the  ocean  to  his  home  on  land.     So  far  as  our  own 
proof  goes,  wo  have  nothing  before  us  to  show  that  the  all- 
knowledge  is  not  always  passive,  except  when  some  informa- 
tion is   being  drawn  "from  it.     This  view  of   its  passivity 
accords  with  much  of  what  we  know  of  nature.     It  also  ac- 
cords with  tlie  religious  view  that  (Jod  in  all  cases  requires 
individual  effort  for  progression. 

The  principle,  or  power,  or  law,  or  (iod,  from  which  tins 
knowledge  is  derived,  is  here  called  tlie  all-knowledge.     This 
may  sound  a  little  absurd  till  the  ear  becomes  accustomed  to 
it ;  but  when  nothing  more  is  discerned  of  it  except  that  it 
apparently  knows  everything,  it  is  well  to  confine  oui-selves 
to  our  proof.     For  so  far  as  we  can  as  yet  prove,  this  all- 
knowledge  may  be  merely  a  principle  of  nature  which  has 
been  utilized  by  every  living  thing  towards  slow  progression. 
At  the  same  time  it  would  be  unwise  to  assume  that  no  in- 
spiration comes  unasked.     This  work  confines  itself  to  tracing 
the  medium  of  communication,  and,  in  a  dim  way,  describing 
how  knowledge  is  obtained.     Yet  it  must  not  be  supposed 
that  the  quantity  of  records  concerning  unasked-for  inspira- 
tion and  vision  is  here  ignored.     As  to  these,  we  are  silent 
because  proof  is  unavailable  for  this  work.     Every  one  will 
take  his  own  view.     The   Bible  teems  with  these  records. 
When  subsequent  experimenting  mesmerists  find  that  they 
themselves  can   produce   vision  so  easily,  they  will  regard 
recorded  cases  with  further  light. 


".  -J^Ai—ZL 


Chapteh  V. 


11 


The  French  experiments  show  tluit  after  marriage  patiei-N 
who  havejjreviously  l)(.'en  instructive  h)se  their  suseeptihili.* 
to  the  niesnuaist's  power.  As  suhsecpieiitly  e.\j)hiiiie(l,  mar- 
riage deveh)ps.  The  ego  tlien  lefiises  to  sul)mit  to  outside 
influence.  Until  the  liunian  indivifhiality  rises  to  a  position 
in  society  wiiich  is  similarly  assured  it  lacks  strength.  It 
then  becomes  more  of  a  power  tliaii  ..  patient.  Before  this 
happens,  it  is  hut  little  njore  than  an  undesignated  capa- 
city for  sensation.  And,  in  every  grade  of  life,  when  tlie 
female  instinct  for  suhmission  is  j)resent,  susceptible  material 
for  the  world's  mesmerism  is  provided. 

We  use  the  term  "  world's  mesmerism  "  to  hint  at  the  uni- 
versality of  the  vibratory  effects.  Social  intercouise  is  made 
up  of  them.  Communion  of  any  kind,  fiom  the  lowest  ani- 
mal to  a  spiritual  (and  doubtless  to  the  highest  spiritual) 
condition  is  part  of  the  processes  of  the  same  principles. 
The  unity  of  marriage,  friendship,  home  life,  and  all  the 
happiness  which  in  any  way  arises  through  intercourse  with 
other  souls,  and  whether  tiie  happiness  be  of  birds,  animals, 
or  that  of  the  human  spiiitual  planes,  is  all  a  part  of  the 
operation  of  the  same  system.  Let  us  understand  this  a 
little  better.  If  the  reader  will  glance  over  the  following 
synopses,  ideas  will  J)e  gleaned  tliat  will  save  words :  — 

Whatever  else  life  may  be,  one  of  its  most  prominent  and 
noticeable  characteristics  is  capacity  for  vibration. 

Mesmerism  is  one  process  for  producing  unity  of  vibration. 

Pleasant  social  intercoui-se  and  friendship  are  approaches 
to  unity  of  vibration. 

Sexual  passion  is  unity  of  vibration  in  the  animal  grades. 

Love  is  unity  of  vibration  on  the  spiritual  planes. 

Music  is  the  language  of  the  world  of  vibratioii,  aiid  pro- 
duces and  alters  the  soul-phases  by  establishing  unities  of 
vibration. 


08 


\ 


n 


S-v's<d»'»«MK«*;aitT)»^'»*»£»*j«*a»«B.^j**;^  ^ 


^  tr.*.'9ii»ir  •;  »*S-ffc*TS**ttw*i'=*i', . 


,i':-^=v«'.-.-,-i^r  ---;-^h*  ■ 


54 


THK    ASCKNT    OK    LIFK. 


Unhappiness,  of  which  the  proper  nanu!  is  diHcord.  is  hick 

of  unity  of  vihratioii.  .  .       ,  •     ^        .» 

Health,  holh  physical  and  spiritual,  means  "  in  tune. 
Sympathy    (active)    is  the  attempt  to  produce  unity  ot 

""' No  system  which  proposes  to  deal  with  life,  whether  it  be 
religious  or  seientitic,  can  he  satisfactory  or  correct  unless  it 
be  eoually  api.licable  to  the  whole  of  lite,  from  the  lowest 
animll  grades  to  the  highest  spiritual  ones.  Many  systems 
have  been  distinetly  advantageous  t..  a  lew  ''"t.  outs^jlers 
who  seemed  to  lose  heaven  by  not  being  included  in  these 
schemes  have  found  them  somewhat  lacking  in  scope. 

While  the  above  headings  are  being  read  we  must  not  be 
undei-stood   to   say  that   life  is  nothing  Imt  vibration,  be- 
cause, except  i.erl.ips  in  plant  life,  it  is  also  consciousness, 
it  must  not  be  c.Meluded  that  nnu.-s  future  existence  is  sug- 
gested to  be  that  of  a  vibrating  essence  and  nothing  more 
People  attend  a  s.aentilie  lecture  and  tlieii  forget  the  tacts 
of  it.     After  dinner,  it  is  s..nietimes  diiVKult  to  be  interested 
in   the  statement  that  the   universe  which  lies  outside  the 
processes  of  digestion  is  alive  with  viL.ation.     It  is  men  loned 
that  light  travels  at  over  192.000  miles  a  second  and  at  a 
rate  which  could  encircle  the  earth  in  one  eighth  of  a  second ; 
and  listeners  raise  the  eyebrows  in  polite  and  slightly  in  er- 
rogative  indifference.     The   scientihc    inf<.rinant  adds    that 
this  is  r//>m^/.«,  "  proceeding  through  the  ether  which  tills 
all  space  and  pervades  all  material  bodies,  occupying  the  m- 
tervils  betwein  their  molecules,"  *  and  then  listeners  yawn. 
By  the  time  it  is  explained  how  heat  and  electricity  are  also 
vibration,  the  tired  listener  goes  away  with  a  dim  idea  tiiat 

all  life  is  vibration.  ^,      i      ^        i.u„ 

Well,  is  not  this  right?  Remove  either  the  heat  or  the 
electricity  from  a  man  and  he  is  dead.  Therefore  life  no 
matter  what  else  it  is,  includes  these  two,  which  are  both 
vibration.  We  know,  too,  that  we  could  not  have  a  sensa- 
tion, either  pleasurable  or  the  reverse,  and  that  the  brain 
could  never  have  been  built,  except  for  vibration  along  the 
nerve-Duln.  We  kncnv  that  every  thread  of  the  vast  nervous 
svsten  is  vivified  by  the  life,  so  that  it  is  in  exactly  similar 
CO  Son  to  a  vivitied  telegraph  wire.  If,  then,  the  scien^ 
tincjhe<ny  regurdingj^l^^ 

•  BranUe,  p.  «6'. 


A!.YU»«t^aD»nin«MM 


of 


THE    .VariCNT    OV    1,1  KR. 


55 


I  not  stH!in  iKMUiliar  to  speak 

of  wliufli  the  presence  is  as 

We  are  confronted  by  the 

faculty  wliich,  when  educed, 


tioned")  we  may  say  tliat  we  are  visited  I>y  lij,ditand  pervaded 
by  at  least  three  other  essences  (?)  all  of  which  annihilate 
distance. 

In  view  of  these  facts  it  dm 
of  the  pervading,'  all-knowledi,^' 
capable  of  proof  tis  the  olhei.;. 
fact  that  we  have  within  us  a 
also  annihilates  distance  and  possesses  itself  of  knowledpje 
regarding  fact«  ocinrring  at  a  distance  (and  possibly  any 
other  knowledge  —  though  this  is  not  here  jtroved). 

Now  we  have  always  had  to  face  the  question  as  to  whether 
we  were  mere  automata,  or  something  more.  Necessarily  we 
had  to  be  one  of  the  two.  Science,  in  trying  to  show  an 
exclusively  material  production,  woidd,  if  it  had  succeeded, 
have  proved  us  to  be  automata,  and  in  that  case  the  almost 
deified  intellect  would  have  been  our  nearest  idea  of  a  God. 
Rut,  as  things  are,  we  find  in  us  a  faculty  wliiidi  in  its  mar- 
vellous correspondences  might  almost  be  considered  to  be 
extra-human  ;  and  we  have  to  arrange  our  views  so  as  to 
l)roperly  value  the  fact. 

The  two  greatest  teachers  of  the  world,  although  living,  so 
far  as  we  know,  in  different  countries,  have  come  to  conclu- 
sions which,  if  not  the  same  as  to  outlooks  and  rewards,  pro- 
duced almost  precisely  similar  effect^^  upon  man's  efforts  to 
imjjrove  himself.  The  results  in  both  cases  weie  to  make  him 
seek  to  reduce  the  body's  power  for  obscuring  the  internal 
faculties,  and  to  increase  every  refinement  of  the  individuality 
so  as  to  prepare  it  for  its  condition  sid)sequent  to  human 
death.  Since  those  years,  man  has  improved  to  a  wonderful 
extent,  in  spite  of  the  centiuies  in  which  his  credulity  was 
utilized  to  stagnate  everything  except  priestly  power.  In 
both  systems  the  same  soul  virtues  were  advocated.  These 
are  the  truths  which  every  right-living  man  of  the  present 
day,  whether  agnostic  or  religious,  forms  his  life  upon,  because 
they  leap  into  the  heart  as  truth,  liuddha,  who  disclaimed 
being  otherwise  thau  ordinarily  human,  [)reached  that  these 
are  the  truths  which  any  man  can  ascertain  for  himself.  Men 
found  it  impossible  to  resist  the  force  of  teachings  which  the 
sold  pronounced  to  be  correct  and  proper;  and,  in  their 
i-eadiness  to  accept  them,  accepted  also  the  mass  of  myth  anc^ 
legend  which  had  accumulated  about  each  system.  Thirty- 
four  marked  coincidences  occur  in  the  legends  regarding  the 


J 


56 


THE   ASCENT   OF   LIFE. 


two  teachers  ;  and,  as  they  were  divided  in  point  of  time  by 
live  and  a  half  centuries,  it  is  quite  clear  that  the  myths  re- 
garding the  first  were  attached  also  to  the  second. 

Tlie  virtues  of  the  Buddhist  and  Christian  systems  need 
not  h(;  catahtgued,  because  they  are  known  sufficiently  well  ; 
and  it  will  be  seen  that  preparation  for  any  further  world  has 
always  consisted  in  making  the  best  of  this  one. 

The  aim  of  all  men  is  happiness.  Without  the  possibility 
of  hajjpiness  life  would  be  a  cruelty  as  well  as  an  absurdity. 
All  have  been  in  search  for  it ;  but  not  all  have  accepted  that 
which  could  be  found.  Every  one  who  lias  fairly  tested  life 
and  its  alleged  channels  of  happiness,  has  necessarily  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  requisite  of  happiness  is  that  we  "  live 
outside  ourselves,"  —  to  use  a  phrase  that  will  be  best  under- 
stood. This  discovery  is  not  peculiar  to  any  dogmatic  reli- 
gion. Agnostics  know  it  to  be  a  truth  as  well,  and  often 
better,  than  the  followers  of  religious  systems.  This  natural 
law  has  made  itself  felt  at  those  modern  times  when  man 
commenced  to  transmit  to  posterity  the  verbal,  and  subse- 
quently written,  records  of  his  beliefs — and,  doubtless,  for 
ages  before.  Old  Greek  words  combine  to  give  us  our  word 
"  ecstasy  "  with  a  meaning  which  is  best  rendered  in  the  com- 
mon expression  "  jumping  out  of  one's  skin."     The  word  is 

suggestive.  . 

Nothing  is  more  to  be  expected  than  that  happiness  will  be 
sought  for  widely  by  those  who  are  bold.  The  result  of  all 
seltish  efforts  in  this  search  is  invariably  a  foregone  conclu- 
sion. From  Solomon,  down  to  the  egoistic  melancholia  of 
the  present,  there  has  been  one  long  wail  issuing  from  those 
who  have  tried  to  find  happiness  in  different  forms  of  egoism. 
The  lees  of  the  cup  of  self  are  bitter  and  cause  death.  One 
of  tlie  most  appropriate  names  ever  applied  to  God  or  nature 
was  produced  by  the  North  American  Indians.  They  called 
Him  the  ''  Great  Medicine."  And  the  only  cure  for  the  tor- 
tures and  diseases  of  the  self-inverted  ego  which  gnaws  itself 
to  death,  is  in  the  healing  waters  of  nature.  The  Abana  and 
Pharpar  of  self  are  useless ;  every  fetid  drain  of  Damascus 
pours  into  them. 

Inveterate  materialists  prove  this  truth  for  themselves. 
The  law  which  regulates  souls  ordains  that  every  one  is  a 
necessary  part  of  the  great  chord,  and  that  our  one  small 
note  shall  not  vibrate  by  itself.     The  spiritual  disease  of  the 


'J3K^i*3gr-aiia^^aaajM»s«gBaa»aa»^^ 


THE    ASCENT   OF    LIFE. 


57 


ego  which  consists  in  continuoiinly  snundiiijT  its  own  note 
producess  mtulnesss;  and  iiidocd  the  monotony  of  it  almost 
lunatizes  others  also. 

This  assistance  whit-li  (li.;  non-rt'ligions  side  of  life  supplies 
to  religio)is  truth  is  valnahle.  It  helps  to  eonvince  tiiat  love 
for  the  sympathies,  coni[)assions,  and  unities  of  the  spiritual 
planes  is  no  delusion  of  relij^ious  leaning's.  We  see,  in  fact, 
that  to  live  outside  of  self  is  an  uhsolnte  nei-essity  for  haj)pi- 
ness ;  and  also  that  the  dc^rfes  of  jrladness  which  arise  in 
working  for  others  seem  {graduated  in  proportion  to  the  dis- 
tance at  which  one  leaves  self  heliind.  Although  this  is  the 
rule  in  any  human  life,  tlie  truth  of  it  is  not  discerned  until 
one  has  sought  for  knowledge  in  one's  interior  faculties. 
Neither  the  rule  itself  nor  tiie  extension  of  it  into  the  far- 
reaching  altruism  of  spiritual  peo[)le  is  a  part  of  the  animal 
world.  It  helongs  to  some  plane  of  existence  different  from 
the  animal  one,  in  which  self-interest  is  always  a  first 
consideration,  except  where  mating  and  hreeding  produce 
unities. 

We  repeat  the  words  of  the  last  line  —  "except  where 
ui..  ng  and  breeding  produce  unities."  They  contain  a 
world  of  tuition.  They  hold  one  secret  .as  to  nature's  meth- 
ods of  altering  the  animal  world  to  the  sjurituai  one. 

Let  us  get  at  this  point  slowly  hut  surely. 

The  best  thing  Madame  de  Staiil  said  was  that  "Love  is  an 
egoism  for  two."  She  wiis  deep  in  lier  woman's  heart  when 
she  said  this.  She  of  course  referred  to  marriage  love  ;  and 
the  words  contain  the  commencing  idea  of  a  great  truth, 
namely,  that  marriage,  the  great  sacrament  of  nature,  is  also 
a  great  alterative  process. 

Man  enters  life  as  an  animal,  and  desiiing  that  which  is 
animal.  He  leaves  life  yearning  for  God.  Now  how  did 
this  spiritual  longing  come  into  him  ?  What  is  this  which 
has  happened  between  the  cradle  and  the  deathbed? 

Except  in  the  case  of  some  few  fine  beings,  who  are  owing 
much  to  heredity,  youth  is  almost  utt4'rly  selfish.  We  love 
youth  so  much  that  we  do  not  notice  this,  for  we  know  how 
natural  it  is.  But  the  selfishness  of  youth  and  its  longings 
for  natural  pleasures  indicate  the  plane  on  which  man  ap- 
peal's. The  ordinary  lusty  boy  cares  but  little  for  catechism, 
looks  askance  at  the  catalogue  of  Cliristian  viitues,  secretly 
discredits  the  story  of  Jonah,  but  likes  those  who  give  him 


58 


THE    ASCENT   OF   LIFE. 


what  he  desires, 
coming   a   saint 


Ilis  instincts  are  to  be  a  man  before  be- 
Natuie  insists  u])on  this.  Saintship  is 
wearisome  to  him.  Then  conies  the  period  in  which  perhaps 
evi'iy  one  acts  in  a  different  way  ;  some  run  wihi,  and  some 
do  not.  Hut  the  great  necessity  of  a  young  man's  existence 
is  tt>  retain  liis  faith  in  the  purity  and  sanctity  of  some  girls 
and  women.  If  lie  loses  this  during  the  period  in  which 
more  or  less  riot  is  frciiuent  he  has  sustained  a  terrible  loss, 
for  it  is  in  the  heart  of  the  good  girl  he  believes  in  and 
marries  that  he  learns  more  than  all  the  holy  books  will 
1«ach  him.  Nature  led  men  to  spiritual  giwles  in  the  sacra- 
ment of  marriage  long  before  holy  bo<tks  were  commenced, 
and  any  heaven  which  depended  on  printer's  work  would 
surely  be  a  precarious  affair.  Nothing  has  more  obscured 
nature's  methods  for  making  men  spiritual  than  this  supposed 
necessity  for  books  and  priests;  in  fact,  there  is  something 
humorous  in  the  idea.  As  to  absence  of  limit,  the  only  rival 
1o  the  infinity  of  God  is  the  vanity  of  man. 

Perhajis  the  tiaiest  and  most  beautiful  lines  that  Tennyson 
ever  wrote  are  in  "  Locksley  Hall  "  :  — 

Love  took  up  the  harp  of  Life  and  smote  on  all  the 

chords  with  might; 
Smote  the  chord  of  Self  which,  tremhling,  passed  in 

music  out  of  sight. 

And  it  is,  as  we  have  already  exi)lained,  liecause  self  is 
altered  and  merged  in  other  self  that  marriage  is  happy.  It 
is  the  first  forcible  education  in  that  community  of  inter- 
change which  belongs  to  the  spiritual  condition.  With  some 
jieople  who  at  firat  marry  for  some  other  reason  than  love, 
marriage  may  not  commence  or  it  may  not  end  happily;  but 
sooner  or  later,  and  perhaps  after  it  has  concluded,  there  will 
be  realization  of  the  fact  that  during  the  love  life  was  holy. 
For  those  who  begin  and  continue  marriage  in  love,  it  will 
not  cease,  though  it  may  sometimes  appear  to  do  so;  that  is 
to  say,  the  effects  of  love  will  remain  although  the  pereon 
who  elicited  it  may  prove  unworthy.  But  there  are  those 
who  are  so  irredeemably  selfish  in  their  perverted,  or  mther 
inverted,  wills  that  they  never  in  any  whole-hearted  way 
alwindon  their  intense  egoism,  and  consequently  remain  on 
the  animal  plane,  unmoved  by  the  tendernesses  extended  in 
the  love  of  the  other  party.  In  these  cases  there  is  of 
course  no  unity,  and  m  fact  no  marriage;  for  on  one  side  it 


J.  i 


>...rTa»«ais^a5a!«i»fi««A;*WMfi^:<«Kt«s»s^»'«^'^ 


THE   ASCENT   OF    LIFE. 


59 


is  attempted  holiness,  and,  on  the   other,  something  quite 
different. 

But,  putting  aside  the  consideration  of  all  the  unhiipi>v 
ones  who  for  many  reasons  fail  to  find  marriage  a  complete 
success,  it  still  must  he  seen,  when  the  suhject  is  studied, 
that  it  is  the  most  alterative  process  of  i  vture's  lahoiatory. 
And  it  hy  no  means  follows  that  the  spiritual  gain  of  mar- 
riage is  lost  becau.se  the  faults  of  the  other  party  terminate  the 
unities  wliicli  have  for  years  continued.  Because  the  human 
soul  is  governed  by  a  nature's  law  which  forbids  descents, 
and  when  it  has  become  accustomed  to  tlie  spiritual  plane 
to  which  love  carried  it,  there  will  be  no  [mssibility  of  en- 
tirely returning  to  the  animal  grade. 

For  this  reason  :  Love's  great  song,  which  consists  of  all 
the  harmonies  of  life  —  lovt^'s  rarefactions,  the  innumerable 
little  self-sacritices,  delicacies,  and  reHiiements,  the  thousaml 
tendernesses,  thoughtfulnesses,  and  caresses  are  all  registeied 
in  the  soul,  which  is  the  storehouse  of  memory,  so  tliat  the 
human  being  is  really  like  a  wonderfully-<leveloped  phono- 
graph in  which  the  great  song  which  told  of  God  and  holiness 
is  continually  being  repeated.  These  living  registrations  of 
the  spiritual  gladnesses,  such  as  sympathy,  compiussion,  con- 
sciousness of  the  holiness  of  giving  one's  best,  the  sacred 
moments  of  devotion,  never  cease  from  sounding  when  once 
they  have  been  received  into  the  soul  after  "  Love  took  up 
the  harp  of  life." 

The  faculty  of  the  soul  for  registering  its  own  sensations 
must,  like  all  the  registrations  of  bodily  sensation  be  attril>- 
uted  to  vibration. 

Life,  as  a  whole,  cannot  be  understood  without  a  compre- 
hension of  the  differences  between  masculine  and  feminine 
passion.  And  as  nature  always  tries  to  teach  first  through 
delight,  the  search  for  her  leading  powers  must  always  be  the 
search  for  her  delights  (though  her  retributive  processes, 
which  are  different,  are  as  a  rule  equally  instructive).  Now, 
throughout  luiture,  the  delight  of  the  male  is  to  possess  and 
overcome ;  that  of  the  female  is  a  passion  for  submission. 
Consequently  every  assistance  is  given  to  the  general  plan  of 
nature  which  insists  on  producing  the  unities  of  vibration 
which  create  hapi»iuess,  whether  these  be  on  the  lowest  or 
highest  grades.  Without  this  knowledge,  the  comprehension 
of  life  is  chaotic. 


(50 


THE   ASCENT   OP   LIFE. 


I  1 


\  , 


If 


.   I 


All  grades  of  sympathy,  in  oider  to  be  pleasurable,  must, 
like  an  agreeai)le  chord  of  music,  l)c  unity  of  vibration.  And 
in  perfect  mairiage,  which  is  the  gift  of  soul  to  soul,  the 
spiritual  interchange  is  complete  ;  so  that  when  the  above- 
mentioned  powers  for  producing  unities  are  present,  then 
miirried  love,  in  its  consciousness  of  holine.ss,  sensitizes  the 
animal  human  ego  into  unity  with  the  more  excessive  vibra- 
tion of  the  spiritual  planes.  The  human  ego  which  has 
always  b(>en  partly  spiritual  must  be  brought  into  unity  with 
a  higher  spiritual  region.  This  is  a  religious  truth  which 
has  always  been  prominent;  and  nature's  chief  process  is  a 
sensitization  of  the  human  soul  which  (hose  who  love  invari- 
ably recognize  from  the  iii-st  to  be  holy.  The  instincts  in 
this  matter  are  universally  the  same,  and  too  vivid  to  allow 
any  do\il)t  as  to  their  spiritual  origin  and  intention. 

Now  one  itecidiaiity  and  a  proof  of  the  efficacy  of  this  plan 
is  that  people  who  have  fairly  attained  and  have  known  the 
relined  gladness  (»f  a  life  passed  more  or  less  on  a  spiritual 
plane,  cannot,  without  suffering,  try  to  leave  the  high  grade 
to  which  they  have  been  elevated.  When  nature  has  sensi- 
tized animal  man  to  a  plane  which  has  symi)athies  like  those 
of  a  Huddha,  his  newly-attuned  indiviiluality  demands  con- 
tinuation or  advance  of  the  conditiims  here  found.  Aftei' 
being  thrilled  up,  vilnated  up,  into  unison  and  tune  with  the 
more  excessive  vibrations  of  a  higher  existence,  then  the 
happiness  (Mcated  l>y  lu'coniing  part  of  the  varied  music  of 
this  region  demands  c()iitinuati<»n  or  increase  of  similar  melo- 
dies and  cannot  do  without  them.  When  either  of  two  par- 
ties to  a  love  marriage  has  tried  to  descend  again  to  the  ani- 
mal phine,  it  has  been  found  tliat  ideas  of  gladness  still 
belonged  to  the  higher  life,  and  that  attractions  which  had 
l)een  or  might  have  been  sullicicMit  at  a  previous  time  seemed 
empty.  When  the  living  legistrations  of  the  higher  joj's 
continually  urge  such  persons  back  by  souriding  their  great 
song,  then  nature  is  exerting  that  force  by  which  descents 
are  forbidden. 

The  natural  purity  and  ideal  refinements  of  love  have  not 
been  attribute<l  to  nature;  thus  rules  have  l)een  made  and 
objections  tiiken  to  coercive  natural  laws  whii  h  have  created 
much  unhaj)piness.  Yet  it  can  be  seen  that  highest  love 
and  the  whole  spiritual  life  is  as  much  a  part  of  nature  as 
the  lowest  passion.  It  is  all  a  question  of  grade;  one  is 
holy  and  the  other  is  intended  to  be  holy.     There  is  nothing 


,i!il 


»3S33fi3SgS^sa--*'*k!aiaB!B3«f«as!a2'«»«l>»s»'" 


THK    ASCICN'T   OK    LIKK. 


61 


obsoeiu)  in  niitiin- ;  the  only  oUscenities  are  the  inoduction  of 
advanced  uniniiil  mind,  in  men  and  monkeys.  If  mans 
mind  had  never  devel(»i»ed  he  wonld  «tiil  he  iej,'uiiited  like 
other  creatures;  but  tlie  mind,  the  stoiehitusu  of  .sensation, 
l)eing  so  much  a  natinal  production,  is  capable  of  resisting 
any  promptings  towards  spirituality;  and  it  is  not  U)«til  this 
mind  (this  combination  (»f  hraiil  and  its  spirit  essence) 
becomes  sensitized  into  unison  with  the  higher  planes  of  life 
that  man  can  realize  their  joys  and  gladnesses. 

And  here  arises  the  dilliculty  of  explaining  the  wide 
concussions  and  symi)athies  of  tiie  spiritual  life  to  the 
unspiritual.  Writers  may  strain  and  words  may  jticturt, 
but  no  one  understands  the  conditions  of  a  plane  of  exisl- 
ence  higher  than  his  own.  No  one  really  thiills  in  hearttelt 
comprehen.sion  with  another  who  transcends  his  limits  — be- 
cause they  exist  in  different  degrees  of  vibration.  It  is  like 
the  nurse-girl,  limited  to  her  lidlabies,  not  being  able  to  unify 
with  the  music  of  Heethoveii.  As  we  said  before,  it  is  a 
jtarallel  case  to  the  amphibian  returning  to  the  water  an<l 
telling  the  fish  of  his  land  experiences.  It  is  (juite  natural 
for  the  lisii  to  think  the  amphibian  to  be  either  a  fool  or  a 
liar.  At  the  present  stage  of  deveh)pment  no  man  is  moie 
than  an  ampliibian;  oscillating,  a.s  of  old,  between  land  and 
water,  l)ctwecn  the  firm  and  the  unfirm,  between  the  spiritual 
and  the  evanescent.  Hut,  (ptery!  was  that  earlier  amphibian 
justified  in  thinking  that  he  represented  the  highest  possible 
form  of  development  ? 

It  is  at  this  point  that  men  insist  on  such  a  barrier  and 
gap  between  the  animal  and  spiritual  planes  as  will  need 
some  assistance  or  belief  to  bridge  over.  There  is  no  gap, 
and  the  teaching  regarding  it  has  done  harm  in  creating 
despair.  Nature  is  continuously  waiting  and  urging  human 
beings  to  learn  of  love  and  the  spiritual  life  through  mar- 
riage, and  through  the  wisdom  supplied  to  mental  demands. 

It  must  be  undei-stood  that  the  process  above  referred  to 
for  elevating  man  is  oidy  one  way  —  nature's  chief  but  not 
sole  way.  Another  is  man's  way,  in  which  his  brain's  pas- 
sionate desire-force  can  compel  the  ego  to  seek  in  the  all- 
knowledge  an  enlightenment  by  which  he  becomes  able  to 
realize  and  accept  the  joys  and  gladnesses  of  the  spiritual 
life.  Nature  invariably  knows  best;  and  nature  will  tell. 
Its   cliief   teacher  is  gladness  —  in   all  grades  —  from  the 


62 


THB   ASCENT   OP    LIKE. 


"Ml; 


breeclinjr  of  the  lizftrd  to  tho  iiursiiifr  of  the  sUk.  Acqui- 
fsceiKU'  is  a  song;  pn.hihition  i.iodiues  a  dirge;  refusal 
means  discord,  dt-spair,  niachiess.  ,       ,       .      . 

Any  system  or  l)elief  which  fails  to  comprehend  natures 
chief  'Mn  for  deveh)i)ment  into  si)irituality  is  incomplete. 
Any  systcan  endeavoring  to  create  a  barrier  or  gai)  l)etween 
animal  man  and  spiritual  man  is  not  sulliciently  mlormed. 
'Ihe  t\vt>  exist  side  by  side.  It  is  true  that  when  man 
n  fuses  nature's  laws  for  development  an.l  conlines  Inmse  f  to 
the  animal  plane  he  divorces  himself  from  happiness,  and,  as 
the  Bible  says,  "does  nt)t  and  cannot  know  (Jod.  But  it 
he  follows  kind  nature,  he  does. 

This  is  where  priests  hav(f  made  their  great  mistake,  and 
have  lilh-d  tiie  lunatic  asylums  of  the  world  with  unfortunate 
victims  who  snifer  from  dementia  arising  from  perverted  or 
suppressed  nature.  This  is  one  of  the  most  terrible  lacts  of 
human  life.  Examination  of  the  causes  of  madness  will 
show  what  many  centuries  of  priestly  teachings  and  terroi-s 
have  done.  Indeed  it  is  much  to  be  doubted  whether  Christ, 
with  his  extraordinary  soul  discernments,  ever  gave  su[.port 
to  the  ideas  which  have  pio<luced  these  drea<lfnl  eftects. 

However,  there  is  hope  for  increased  .safety  in  the   tact 
that  the  world  is  properly  becoming  more  (jbstmate  in  refus- 
iu.r  anv  teachings  which  may  be  let  alone.      Ihe  two  great 
systems   became    widespread    Iwcause    they    both   contained 
teachings  whieii  could  not  be  ignored.     Thus  many  agnostics 
lea.l  a  partly  spiritual  life.    They  accept  what  they  must,  and 
they  repudiate  what  they  must.     In  refusing  creed.s,  though, 
they  are   often  uidiapiuly  separated  from  t'.ose  they  love. 
Thevhave  suffered  much— just  as  the  maitvrs  of  old  died 
f.)r  the  same  truths,  which  at  that  time  included  unnecessary 
eUrt,-r<tx.     It  is  full  of  b-.th  tragedy  and  absurdity  that  the 
best  of  men  should  be  separated  when  their  instincts  are  the 
same.     Agnostics  will  never  say  that  they  believe  Christ  was 
born    of  a  virgin;  yet  one  must  remember  that  there  have 
been  dilh(!ulties  on  both  sides,  and  that  a  man  is  not  without 
honor  when  his  love  for  truth   is  so  great  that  m    fear  of 
having  no  truth  he  coerces  himself  in  regard  to  .some  falsities. 
No   one  has   been    always  right.     Even    Christ   did   things 
which  his  own  system   denoumed.      HapiJily    there  is  one 
point  on  which  all  educated  men  are  agreed,  namely,  that  it 
is  becoming  and  uecessary  to  give   our  best  thought  and 


-"' -%JNIilVINiM"Mnsmi<»tM> 


■gt.,^yyy.M..yi,iwi  i.ijJ4i^jtju^tva.ij4jgr^-';j.'pn'i^;jv:yv???a''^r 


THE   ASCENT   nl'    |,||."i: 


68 


intuitions  to  tlu;  question  of  nur  pn-Hi'iit  ami  futuif  (tondi- 
tion,  and  that  tliis  world,  wliatevt-r  it.s  |iiii|)(.st',  did  not 
apjKiar  for  aiwurdlty'w  .saku  Init  is  a  portion  of  tliu  jfrund 
8e(iuenut'  of  otornal  truth  and  law. 

Christ  and  liuddha  havo  tau^'ht,  in  different  ways,  one 
truth.  Wc  pive  it  in  the  more  familiar  wnnLs  rei,'arding  the 
later  t<3a(;her:  "He  that  hath  the  Son  hatii  etmial  life." 
Now  what  does  this  mean?  An  answer  is  found  in  stndy- 
infjf  the  effeets  jnoduced  upon  those  who  have  souj,dit  spiritual 
paths  and  to  enjoy  spiritual  j,niidance.  And  we  lind  these 
people  in  possession  of  virtues  whieh  helonj,'  universally  to 
the  higher  planes  of  human  life.  We  find  the  Ixjst  Bud- 
dhists, Jews,  Hindoos,  and  others  all  in  jHisscssion  of  the 
satne  high  qualities,  all  sharing  the  same  conHdenee  in  sjjirit 
alliance,  and  all  conscious  of  being  a  part  of  the  sjurit  life. 
The  answer,  arising  out  of  the  general  comparison,  is  dear, 
and  it  makes  the  line  read  thus:  "lie  who  is  on  the  sj)iritual 
planes  with  Christ  hath  (the  l)eginnings  of)  ettirnal  life." 

They  are  all  enjoying  the  same  synqiathies,  gladnesses, 
and  purities  sus  the  (Christians,  and  Kuclid  told  us  that  thiiigs 
which  are  equal  to  the  same  thing  are  equal  to  each  other. 
It  is  one  fraternity,  individualized  hy  many  eccentricities, 
hut  producing  only  one  set  of  results,  the  number  of 
agnostics  in  it,  considering  their  snpjtosed  disadvantages,  is 
peculiar  — agnostics  who  tried  to  understand  (Jod  with  their 
Inains,  till  they  found  that  the  mind  of  the  double-first 
cnlh.gian  can  know  little  more  of  (Jod  than  that  of  a  savage. 
Many  have  droi)i»ed  argument,  and  liave  bec(»mc  conscious 
that  their  loves  fen-  their  wives  and  children,  and  their  coni- 
l)assions  for  those  who  suffer  are  in  some  way  better  than  all 
talk,  eitlier  for  oi'  against  creeds.  In  a  ratlicr  bored  sort  of 
way  tiiey  sometimes  attend  the  church  where  they  hear  that 
they  are  lost  souls.  Hut  somehow  the  organist  .seems  to 
contradict  this  when  the  revercMitial  refrain  tells  in  the  spirit 
speech  of  music  of  something  Ix-yond  — something  that  is 
perfect,  holy,  unspeakable.  Sometimes  the  good  wife  wee{)s 
because  one  of  these  agiuistics  is  not  certain  that  he  is 
"  saved."  Dry  your  tears,  madame!  your  husband  has  dimly 
realized  that  his  way  to  know  God  ia  to  love  you  I 


*  I 


i\) 


CUAPTKIt     VI. 


There  are  evidently  higher  conditions  with  which  the 
human  soul  becomes  unified.  In  unihcation  with  the  vibra- 
tory conditions  of  a  higher  i.lane,  participation  in  the  begin- 
nhigs  of  the  spiritual  life  is  enjoyed.  Thus  '^".f ''^"««X 
a  higher  and  more  sensitive  existence  necessitates  further 
Lnaitization  in  the  human  being.  Other  f^^es  o  sundar 
processes  are  in  operation  when  animals  are  domesticated,  and 
throuXmany  generations  are  t^uight,  handled,  mesmerized, 
seSed,  and  tendered  much  more  capable  of  both  gladness 

"""The^divifion  of  completed  man  as  understood  by  the 
Buddhist  soul  science  may  here  be  given;  "Ot  because  i^ 
correctness  or  incorrectness  is  suggested,  but  because  it  is 
interesting  to  consider  the  conclusions  arrived  at  by  othei-s. 
tS  sLtlnent  is  that  a  perfected  man  would  possess  or  m 
the   course   of   his  individuality's   completion    would   have 

previously  possessed,  in  all,  the  ^oll-^VI'^/     ;d^  tb/aVimal 
body;  (2)  the  vitality;  (3)  the  astral  body;  (4)  the  animal 
soul;  (5)  the  human  soul;  (6)  the  spiritual  soul;  (7)  spirit. 
Their  explanations  of  the  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  princi- 
Dles  are  partly  in  accordance  with  the  conclusions  suggested 
Cthe  mesnLic   experiments,   namely,  that   they  are  not 
divisible  into  separate  entities  but  develop  upwards.     Ihe 
terms  merely  suggest  the  grades  of  improvement  of  the  same 
ego      The  advance  is  partly  illustrated  in  the  development 
fiom  the  animal  or  the  lowest  savage  to  the  highest  existing 
man.     It  is  said  that  the  fourth  principle,  the  animal  soul, 
is  the  seat  of  the  passions,  and  of  that  will-lorce  which  is 
utilized  in  the  mesmeric  experiments.     The  fifth  principle. 

M 


nriii'U».s.>:>^j?»a^-a!s^-ja^i'--^3^a^^asg^ 


TUB  A8CKNT  OK   LIFK. 


65 


the  manag,  is  Hpokuii  of  ii.s  tliu  scat  of  tlin  reason  and 
nietnoiy.  Tliu  claim  in  that  this  llfth  piinciithi  is  not  yttt 
fully  il«vuloi)(;(l  in  oidinaiy  man,  an<l  (;onsi'(|m'nlly  that  tho 
sixth  jtiin(!i[il(!  is  emhryotic.  Yet  it  is  als(t  said  that  from 
this  sixth  pi'inciplu  the  human  sold  <^iiuiH  those  (tuli^hten- 
ments  \vhi(di  arrive  to  the  searcher  of  wisdom,  he(;au8e  it  is 
asserted  that  this  sixth  principle  contains  attributes  of  om- 
niscience more  or  less  latent  within  it. 

In  vliis  small  treatise  the  author  has  preferred  to  eoidine 
lumself  solely  to  those  deductions  which  his  own  »;xpcii- 
ment«  seem  to  insist  ujton.  To  those  interested  in  their  own 
advance  it  can  matter  little  whether  it  is  their  sixth  princi- 
ple which  assists  them  or  the  all-lvnowlcdj,'e  with  which  we 
find  the  human  soul  to  be  in  coircspondcnce.  It  is  evident 
that  the  sixth  principle,  which  is  said  to  contain  the  attri- 
butes of  omniscience,  could  only  pain  its  [jowci's  from  the 
all-knowledge  of  the  seventh  principle,  and  conse(iuenlly  its 
introduction  may  unnecessarily  complicate  ideas. 

An  objection  to  this  ilivision  arises  beciause  it  seenis  to 
place  the  power  for  receiving  spiritual  guidaiu'e  too  far  ofl^' 
in  the  scale  to  accommodate  itself  to  the  fact  that  the  Icnvest 
of  the  animal  creation  receives  the  guidance  its  sensorium 
requires  as  it  becomes  capable  of  experiencing  needs.  If  this 
truth  has  been  considered  by  the  Buddhists,  it  has  not,  appar- 
ently, been  set  forth;  and,  as  we  said  before,  any  acceptiible 
system  must  tit  in  with  all  life  from  the  lowest  to  the  high- 
est. The  great  desideratum  is  simplicity  of  law;  and  the 
Buddhists  are  so  wedded  to  their  favorite  numlHjr  seven  that 
they  seem  even  to  create  worlds,  human  principles,  etc., 
in  order  to  accord  with  the  seven  notes  of  music,  the  seven 
colors  of  the  spectrum,  etc.  They  may,  perhaps,  Ije  right. 
But  in  the  meantime  we  shall  feel  better  satisfied  to  confine 
oui-selves  to  our  proofs,  so  far  as  they  go. 

As  to  the  thiid  principle,  the  "  astral  body,"  the  writer  has 
found  no  knowledge  of  it  in  his  patients,  and  therefore  de- 
clines, until  further  proof,  to  believe  m  its  existence.  Mes- 
merism proves  suihciient  to  cover  all  the  facts  in  a  short  way, 
namely,  that  when  the  soul  is  disencund)ered  of  all  bodily 
sensation,  it  is  found  to  be  in  correspondence  with  scmie 
existence  which  is  apparently  omniscient.  This  is  the  royal 
fact  so  far  as  our  knowledge  now  extends. 


tJO 


THK    ASCENT    OF    LIFE. 


The  theory  which  is  here  advanced,  tliat  all  sensation  of 
happiness  is  caused  by  vibration  and  its  unities,  and  that  all 
advance  of  happiness  implies  increased  capacity  for  increased 
vibration,  meets  with  8upi)ort  in  many  directions.     It  is  sug- 
gested by  the  ettect  of  the  emotions  on  the  body  itself.     Ihe 
more  retined  and  sensitive  a  being  is,  the  more  it  seems  to 
vibrate  when  influenced  by  the  intenser  feelings;  whereas  lu 
those  who  are  living  a  dull  and  heavy  existence  these  effects 
can  be  but  little  noticed.     After  excesses,  the  human  being 
feels  removed  from  possibility  of  unity  with  high  and  rehned 
companionship  and  aspirations.      The  intenser  and  higher 
vibrations  do  not  belong  to  the  low  plane  with  which  he 
unwisely  becomes  unified. 

While  considering  the  theory,  it  is  impossible  to  ignore  the 
interpretation  by  music  of  all  aspects  of  life.     Music  is  the 
counterpart  of  life  in  spirit-speech.     Animal  hfe,  bird  life, 
etc.,  evidently  represent  the  passions  and  vanities  m  form. 
Music  reproduces  all  these  and  the  moods  in  sound.     People 
are,  for  the  most  part,  in  one  or  other  of  the  many  phases 
wliioh   affect   human   life.     These   phases   are  the   general 
sweeps  or  tendencies  of  the  soul.     If  a  soul  could  have  an 
attitude,  we  would  call  them  the  attitudes  of  the  soul.     Ihey 
influence  mentality.     Oi.inions  fall  into  line  with  the  pre- 
vailing one,  and  nearly  every  action   is  colored  by  it.     It 
adapt?  an  individual's  life  to  itself.     It  is  like  the  general 
water-shed  of  a  territory.     Tlie  rivers  in  it  may  meander,  but 
their  general  direction  is  certain.     When  a  prolonged  pha^e 
changes,  the  whole  landscape  seems  to  tilt  up,  and  then  the 
currents  of  opinion  alter  their  courses.     Phases  are  more 
noticeable  in  women  than  in  men.    They  have  their  religious 
phase,  their  icy  phase,  that  in  which  they  mourn,  their  moral, 
or  passionate,  or  dutiful,  or  love  phase,  the  intellectual,  the 
revengeful,  the  light-hearted,  —  the  phase  which  m  continu- 
ally craving  sympathy  exhausts  everybody  ;  or  the  self^acn- 
ficing  phase  which  assists  everybody,  —  together  with  the 
opposites  of  these,  and  others.  i    +i  ■     v,„f 

Now  every  i)hase  has  its  own  music.  Not  only  this,  but 
the  separate  phases  can  be  produced  and  created  in  the 
human  being  by  music  — by  leading  the  individual  into 
an  accord  and  unity  with  those  vibrations  which  are  the 
spirit  speech  of  the  particular  phase.  Gaiety,  n.elancholy, 
love  for  war  and  victory,  love  for  dancing  (which  of  itselt 


THE   ASCENT   OP   LIFE. 


fil 


interprets  different  grades  of  passion)  tendernesses,  love- 
making,  despair,  reverence,  worship,  can  all,  by  torn,  be 
given  in  music;  and  the  sensitive  human  is  mentally  altered 
by  each  one,  in  succession.  A  musician  can  lead  up  to  a 
linely  conceived  but  terrible  discord  that  will  make  the  un- 
hai)py  fear  for  their  own  sanity.  Or  he  can  take  the  same 
people  and  bring  peace  to  their  souls  like  the  caress  of  a 
mother.  There  is  no  limit  to  it.  It  is  the  reproduction  of 
tiie  delights,  griefs,  mediocrities,  fanta^'es,  passions,  or  sub- 
limities of  the  composer's  soul.  It  is  his  message.  The 
right  music  must  produce  its  own  phase  —  that  is,  with  those 
who  are  in  a  condition  to  unify  with  it. 

Now  what  do  we  learn  by  seeing  that  every  phase  of  the 
human  soul  hf's  its  counterpart  and  speech  in  vibration? 
What  can  these  facts  possibly  mean  except  that  music  is  the 
speech  of  the  soul  life?  The  mood  or  phase  is  produced  in 
the  listener  when  he  is  sufficiently  sensitive  to  have  the  vi- 
brations of  his  soul  drawn  into  accord  with  those  vibrations 
and  tones  and  times  which  are  the  set  language  of  the  phase. 
Thus  music  unifies  'abration.  Consequently  we  understand 
how  the  musical  voice  of  great-souled  sympathy  brings  peace 
to  the  miserable  by  retuuing  discordances  and  by  making 
them  unify  with  the  vibrations  of  a  soul  that  is  in  health 
and  consequently  in  happiness. 

These  facts  suggest  that  if  any  spirit  life  succeeds  human 
life,  some,  at  least,  of  the  passions  will  still  be  present.  But 
a  man  who  is  in  an  impaired  condition,  with  his  soul  w>  lied 
up  or  his  system  unstrung,  is  insusceptible  to  these  soul  per- 
ceptions. He  is  a  harp  in  a  rain-storm  —  sadly  tuneless. 
No  one  realized  this  better  than  David,  the  singer  of  Israel. 
Indeed,  with  the  new  knowledge  of  nature  as  it  is,  the  Bible 
becomes  a  living  thing,  especially  for  those  who  have  been 
agnostic  —  fairly  (luivering  as  it  •'.  with  the  loves,  hates, 
aspirations,  mistakes,  and  truths  of  the  older  time.  In  its 
portrayal  of  the  passage  from  the  Yawvch  of  Israel  to  the 
God  of  Jesus  it  is  our  fullest  record  of  the  earlier  evolution 

of  the  soul.  ,  ,       t  ■       £    -L 

Human  beings  arc  chiefly  moved  by  the  music  of  the 
phases  in  which  they  usually  alternate.  Above  these  grades 
they  do  not  readily  understand,  or,  rather,  do  not  unify. 
Regard  the  Italian  nation  filling  their  opera  houses.  They 
vibrate  to  the  music  of  their  own  phases.  The  Italian  opera 
has  no  high  range ;  it  rings  the  changes  on  passion,  revenge, 


ji««g^WesM»«*»*^aw»«iB*v*<K»j«tiaiK«»-'j»iai««.i»,«^ 


68 


THE   ASCENT   OF    LIFE. 


ilespair,  soiisuousness,  etc.  Few  of  the  truest  lovera  of  Ital- 
ian (>i)i  ra  laie  for  the  intelleotualitiea  of  Beethoven.  Music 
has  its  own  evolution  in  the  human  comprehensions.  That 
whicli  bi-ars  no  message  is  thus  regarded  as  trumpery,  except 
for  li-ht  pastime.  To  be  sent  into  transport  by  music  does 
not  imply  that  one  is  great  unless  the  music  itself  be  great : 
for  there"  is  music  for  every  phase  known  to  mankind,  from 
the  lowest  to  the  highest.  A  man  can  be  judged  by  the 
music  he  loves  best  even  more  surely  than  by  his  library. 

Every  view  of  life  assists  the  idea  tliat  advanced  retiue- 
ment  is  the  advanced  capacity  for  vibration,  which  is  — 
sensitization. 

Again,  what  is  sympathy  ?  —  compassion  ?     What  is  this 
tendency  and  ability  to  assist  those  in  distress  or  who  igno- 
rantly  sin  agauist  themselves?     Let  us  repeat  the  previous 
words  about  the  vivified  telegraph  wire:  —  "  It  is,  throughout 
its  length,  permeated  by  an  immaterial  essence,  possessing  a 
capacity  for  such  inconceivably  rapid  vibration  that  a  shock 
or  alteration  in  one  spot  is  immediately  felt  along  the  whole 
wire.     It  is  as  sensitive  in  its  entirety  as  in  its  part.     This 
is  sympathy  sublimated  —  unconscious  sensitiveness  carried 
to  a  superlative  degree."     Now  this  work  was  not  intended 
to  speak  as  to  our  future  condition;   but  it  is  difficult  to 
avoid  considering  the  powers  which  electricity  suggests  that 
other  essences  may  contain.  '  It  shows  us  a  case  of  sympathy 
sublimated— sensitiveness   carried  to  a  superlative  degree, 
and  we  go  back  and  ask  what  we  know  about  the  compassion 
and  sympathy  of  a  highly  spiritual  man.     The  answer  is 
that  he  is  sensitiveness  carried  to  a  superlative  degree.     Some 
faculty  in  him  can  proceed  to  every  condition  of  life  tliat 
needs" him,  and  alleviate  tlie  wretched  by  drawing  them  into 
unity  with  his  stronger  and  happier  and  well-tuned  soul.     It 
recognizes  as  brothers  and  friends  those  who  belong  to  the 
planes  where  all  promise  to  be  as  sensitive  in  entirety  as  in 
part.     Evidently,  this  interior  existence  and  electricity  are 
both  ethereal  essences,  and  electricity  is  vibration. 

Naturally  we  make  comparisons.  This  is  not  an  argu- 
ment, but  an  indicating  of  a  line  of  thought.  We  may  not 
at  present  be  able  to  place  our  ideas  beyond  the  power  of 
reply,  and  perhaps  demolition;  but  is  it  possible  to  resist  the, 
conviction  tliat  human  advance  nicaiis  advanced  capacity  for 
vibration  ?     Those  who  try  to  make  life  go  pleaaantly  will 


THE   ASCENT  OP   LIFE. 


69 


are 


incline  t(i\>ard8  the  lines  of  proof  wliicli  tend  to  (ii'iiioiistiiite 
the  existence  of  a  condition  in  whirh  synip;ilh_)  and  sensitive- 
ness are  carried  to  a  supeilative  dej^jree.  One  feels  almost 
grateful  to  the  electric  wire  for  proving  on  a  lower  grade 
that  such  things  are,  in  part,  a  reality. 

In  following  this  theory  as  to  man  advancing  in  the  si)ir- 
itual  world  as  he  becomes  fitted  to  vibrate  in  accord  with 
its  higher  grades  we  are  merely  understanding  in  its  further 
range  that  same  process  which  has  from  the  beginning 
brought  to  brain  of  man  and  animal  every  sensation  of  hap- 
piness that  has  ever  been  felt.  There  is  nothing  new  about 
the  law  itself.  And  if  this  eternal  continuity  of  the  i)ast 
makes  us  feel  justified  in  extending  it  into  any  future  condi- 
tion of  man,  either  mundane  or  otherwise,  Ave  may  expect  to 
find  two  soul  qualities — first,  this  vibration  which  contains 
all  capacity  for  happiness;  and,  sccon.d,  its  alliance  with  the 
all-knowledge.  These  pleasant  ideas  are  speculative;  but, 
because  of  their  present  reality,  they  are  more  than 

"  Hints  and  echoes  of  a  world 
To  spirits  folded  in  the  womb." 

A  fact  which  has  needed  explanation  is  itself  explanatory. 
It  is  that  agnostics  and  others  who  are  sensitive  and  who 
think  they  have  no  religion  cannot  yield  themselves  to  the 
highest  class  of  reverential  music  without  experiencing  pecu- 
liar longings  —  a  sense  of  incompleteness  tliat  lias  an  aj)- 
proach  to  completeness  within  reach.  They  find  that  this 
sense  of  incompleteness  is  owing  to  their  refusal  to  enjoy 
these  suggestive  yearnings,  or  to  think  they  mean  anything. 
They  have  refused  religion  in  the  almost  universal  mistake 
of  regarding  God  as  a  sort  of  priest.  Wlii^n  priestly  teach- 
ings have  been  dropped  they  have  considered  that  religion 
could  possess  nothing  for  them. 

T.ie  effects  of  the  error  have  been  most  uiihai)py.  It  will 
be  i-^en  that  religion  cannot  possibly  be  a  creed.  Religion  is 
the  receiving  of  God  in  the  heart.  It  could  not  be  even 
necessary  to  say  "  I  believe  in  God,"  because  the  seeking  or 
acceptance  of  the  holiness  and  gladness  in  th  I'go  makes  any 
words  unnecessaiy.  It  is  true  that  a  man  doe-  believe  while 
accepting  this,  l)ut  it  is  also  clear  that  there  is  no  necessity 
for  liis  saying  so,  except,  perhaps,  to  help  others.  Religion  is 
a  phase,  a  tendency,  a  merging  of  the  soul.     On  man's  part 


■  iiiJAUBiL-'i"jLl'H' "  I  I    r         I  iii'ii'iii  r       '      i  •irffr"r<iiriiiipr""  "  '  '"'"•'•  "  ■-— -- 


70 


THE   ASCENT   OF    LIFE. 


it  is  the  acquiescence  in  and  acceptance  and  seeking  of  those 
phases  which  t.ll  of  continual  inii)rovenient  and  wisdom  and 
nearness  to  the  (Jreat  (ihidness.  So  that  there  can  be  no 
necessity  tV)r  words  in  that  which  is  entirely  of  phase.  What 
use  cou'ld  he  made  of  them?  For  worship?  Yes,  if  one 
likes  to  use  them.  Hut  words  cannot  speak  the  soul  s  phases; 
and  what  could  (iod  want  of  words?  Men  worship  became, 
theij  w<M«^  because  of  gratitude,  which  is  love's  endless  neces- 
sity. And  in  this  necessity  and  gladness  the  natural  worship 
is  the  natural  soul-burst  of  melody  and  music.  Man  never 
yet  found  words  for  gratitude.  Music  is  the  spirit  speech, 
and  the  language  of  the  phases.  Neither  ecstasy  nor  despair 
can  find  speech  except  in  tone. 

Consequently,  when  these  explanations  sink  into  the  heart 
as  truths,  it  is  seen  that  no  one  by  doubting  or  denying  God  s 
existence  escapes  from  the  laws  regarding  the  language  ot 
music.  When  such  an  one  listens,  for  instance,  to  grand 
cathedral  music  of  a  reverential  kind,  his  sensations  will  tend 
to  make  him  agree  with  the  statement  here  made  — that  the 
influences  which  proceed  from  the  Great  Gladness  to  man 
cannot  be  systematically  shut  out  without  incurring  almost 
intolerable  gloom.  This  fact  contains  potent  suggestion  as 
to  the  methods  for  punishment  in  the  life  after  human  death. 
We  repeat  a  line  which  cannot  be  too  well  remembered: 
"Refusal  means  discord,  gloom,  despair,  madness;  prohibition 
produces  a  dirge;  acquiescence  is  a  song."  Throughout  all 
nature  these  laws  rule. 

The  supposed  necessity  for  words  has  always  been  a 
stronghold  for  hierarchies  and  the  medicine-men  of  savage 
tribes.  By  means  of  this  alleged  requisite,  nearly  all  the 
people  of  the  world  have  been  more  or  less  blinded  to  the 
simplicities  of  true  religion.  Thus  we  see  among  our  own 
lower  classes  all  manner  of  absuidities,  arising  from  the  same 
ideas  which  are  prevalent  i.i  fetish  worship.  In  fact,  all 
rites  and  ceremonies  of  an  expiatory  kind  are  nothing  else 
than  fetish  worship.  We  find  men  flattering  God  with 
words  while  continuously  cruel  towards  t'eir  wives.  We 
see  people  whom  no  one  would  trust  with  sixpence  grace- 
fully sacrificing  their  comfort  by  standing  up  at  the  repeti- 
tion of  a  creed.  Much  of  the  study  of  religious  cults  is  the 
study  of  absurdity;  but,  because  of  the  deep  underlying 
truths,  sympathy  extends  to  man's  attempts  at  improvement. 


THE    ASCENT   OP   LIFE. 


Tl 


If  iiny  one  doubts  the  power  of  music  to  produce  a  phase, 
let  liim  examine  what  occurs  at  revival  meetings.  He  will 
find  that  the  preacher  makes  proposals,  but  that  it  is  the 
organist  who  makes  the  hearts  leap  to  accept  them.  The 
preacher's  proposals  contain,  in  effect,  the  simple  necessity 
of  man's  turning  towards  the  spiritual  life  and  the  holiness 
of  nature.  To  this  there  aie  drawbacks  because  of  priestly 
etceteras.  But  when  the  swell  of  the  music  vibrates  into 
those  whom  the  preacher  almost  brought  into  unity  by  his 
voice  and  encouragement,  then  emotiuii  obliterates  objec- 
tions and  the  patient  shuts  his  eyes  to  what  he  cannot  be- 
lieve and  accepts  the  holiness  and  is  thankful.  Conversion, 
the  opening  of  the  ego  to  spiritual  influences,  is  a  reality: 
but  a  very  simple  one;  and  many  people  are  converted  long 
before  they  think  they  are ;  for  it  has  nothing  to  do  with 
words,  but  is  the  emotion  wliich  turns  with  the  ego's  com- 
plete consent  and  will  towards  the  higher  life. 

Intellect  has  sneered  at  emotion ;  but  we  need  not  try  to 
answer  as  to  which  has  had  the  best  of  it,  for  each  is  neces- 
sary to  the  otlier.  In  trying  to  deify  itself,  intellect  has  so 
advertised  itself  and  so  placed  its  own  praise  in  everybody's 
mouth  that  it  takes  some  courage  to  suggest  how  little  it  is 
capable  of.  Intellect  is  emotion's  pruning-knife.  It  should 
not  be  allowed  to  be  the  woi-st  of  stumbling-blocks  on  the 
road  to  happiness.  There  is  a  consciousness  which  insists 
upon  the  prophecy  that  emotion  will  mean  happiness  when 
tlie  present  processes  of  intellect  are  forgotten. 

A  verbal  picture  which  represents  any  human  life  cor- 
rectly must  contain  its  sermon.  The  eloquence  of  facts  is 
generally  sufficient.  Yet  deductions  are  sometimes  missed 
unless  mentioned.  And  there  are  silent  suggestions  in  the 
fact  that  unless  the  animal  mind  (or  its  essence)  unifies  with 
the  conditions  of  the  spiritual  planes  it  is  not  and  never  can 
be  a  part  of  them.  This  is  a  reality  of  nature.  No  sacri- 
ficial blood  can  make  a  tadpole  live  on  land  till  it  develops 
into  a  frog.  The  unhappiness  to  which  a  continuous  and 
wrongly-timed  clinging  to  the  animal  planes  gives  rise  is 
also  a  fact  which  in  eve;  y  life  enforces  consideration.  Age, 
with  its  experiences,  is  expected  to  acquiie  its  dignity.  Tiie 
universal  idea,  apart  from  all  religion,  taat  age  and  ex[)eri- 
ence  should  bring  improvement,  exhibits  the  innate  knowl- 
edge of  what  a  life's  evolution  should  be. 


« :».j?^*n>r^ff*  i.if-i--^  es 


T2 


THE   ASCENT  OF   LIFE. 


But,  on  the  other  hand,  poor,  ignorant,  animal  human 
nature  is  not  so  bad  as  priests  have  painted  it.  Much  harm 
lias  been  done  by  going  to  extremes.  The  old  teaching 
tliat  "The  heart  of  man  is  despeiately  wicked,"  has  been  a 
source  of  inealc'ulal)le  riches  to  hieiiircliies,  and  of  inconceiv- 
able misery  to  liumaiis.  So  far  as  counsel  for  criminals  may 
judge  of  the  worst  of  men,  it  may  be  said  that  this  teaching, 
except  as  to  rare  cases,  is  highly'  improper.  Criminals,  as  a 
rule,  are  very  commoiiplnce  people.  Not  one  in  a  thousand 
of  them  could  be  in  any  way  made  romantic ;  the  newspapei'S 
try  this,  but  counsel  know  better.  'J'he  extinction  of  the 
devil,  which  was  one  of  the  many  moral  uses  of  the  sense  of 
absurdity,  has  removed  nearly  all  the  luridity  of  the  general 
view.  There  were  times,  jiot  so  very  long  ago,  when  attempts 
to  appear  pyrotechnically  bad  did  not  seem  so  asinine  as  they 
do  now.  Tliat  terror  of  olden  times,  the  daring  atheist  hurl- 
ing liis  defiance  at  God,  is  now  interesting  to  no  one  but  the 
l)oliceman  who  arrests  him  for  making  a  noise  — but  not  for 
atheism.  Outside  the  ranks  of  insanity,  the  existence  of  a 
real  atlieist  is  diihcult  to  imagine,  in  spite  of  Ids  own  asser- 
tions ;  and,  if  existing,  he  would  be  entitled  to  much  com- 
passion. Agnostics  say  they  "  cannot  think  God  "  (and  they 
never  will)  ;  but  they  do  not  say  the  high  power  of  nature 
cannot  be  felt.  Opinions  have  much  changed  of  late  yeais. 
All  the  old  ideas  about  slighting  God,  or  helping,  blaming, 
cursing  him,  or  taking  his  name  in  vain,  now  exist  only  as 
vulgarities  —  to  be  considered,  if  at  all,  in  the  police  court ; 
—  for  the  Power  of  nature  has  no  name,  and  Yawveh,  the 
tribal  deity  of  Israel,  was  so  confessedly  jealous  of  the  other 
local  myths  that  he  made  his  own  name  vain. 

Over  man's  "  abysses  of  sin  "  has  been  erected  a  sign  :  — 
"Rubbish  may  be  shot  here."  Superstition  dug  out  the 
abysses.  Abandoned  superstition  fills  them  up ;  and  much 
that  was  picturesque  and  theatrical  has  been  well  exchanged 
for  level  roads.  The  Inferno  in  which  the  spiteful  Dante 
placed  his  personal  enemies  lies  unread  on  our  shelves  along 
with  Milton's  lurid  Belial.  Man  has  no  deeper  depths  than 
those  to  which  his  imagination  will  carry  him  in  seeking  vhe 
satisfaction  of  his  passions.  Surely  this  is  bad  enougli.  It 
must  be  confessed  tliat  our  human  animal,  mni*  the  devil, 
not  only  drops  to  the  commonplace  but  also  appears,  as  a  rule, 
to  be  excessively  vulgar  until  he  is  sensitized  into  those  re- 
finements of  which  one  outcome  is  gentility. 


1  I 


THE   ASCENT   OF    LIFE. 


78 


To  supjiose  tliis  purblind  creature,  who  is  usually  con- 
scious of  but  little  more  than  l\is  animal  necessities,  to  be  in 
anything  like  a  perfect  condition,  is  like  taking  sand  into 
the  eyes  to  assist  vision.  We  were  told  that  "  Man  was 
made  in  the  image  of  God."  A  wrong  understanding  of  this 
produced  conceit.  Man  hfis  always  been  in  the  processes 
necessary  for  develojung  attributes  of  (iod.  The  prt-scnce, 
from  the  commencement,  of  the  guiding  all-knowledge  and  of 
tha  guiding  capacity  for  gladness  shows  what  the  truth  is. 
The  continuous  presence  of  these  removes  all  sense  of  degra- 
dation in  the  considering  of  the  fact  ihat  we  arise  through 
lowly  forms.  Rather  than  believe  that  man  is  near  perfec- 
tion, it  would  be  more  reasonable  to  expect  that  our  present 
condition  will  be  as  unwelcome  a  thought  in  the  distant 
future  as  the  consideration  of  our  simian  ancestoi-s  is  to  some 
people  of  this  century. 

It  will  be  seen  that  while  life  is  a  continuous  endeavor, 
it  is  also,  if  taken  rightly,  an  exceedingly  happy  one.  The 
claim  that  our  actions  in  our  little  span  of  seventy  years 
could  not  much  affect  the  past  and  future  eternities  of  the 
individual  seems  highly  dangerous.  Histoiy  teems  with 
instances  of  men  who  after  continued  success  commit  some 
great  sin  and  never  succeed  again,  but  continue  in  gloom 
and  die  ignominiously.  In  the  most  romantic  life  of  English 
history,  William  the  Conqueror  was  an  avalanche  of  con- 
tinued success  until  the  judicial  muider  of  Waltheof .  After 
that,  his  degradation  commenced.  In  all  his  scores  of  battles 
the  only  wound  he  ever  leceived  was  one  delivered  by  his 
own  son.  He  who  had  been  almost  worshipped,  died  hated, 
ignominiously,  and  without  friends. 

Personal  watchfulness  of  life  produces  the  conviction  that 
when  a  man  becomes  lost  in  immorality  he  is  removed  —  he 
dies  disgracefully.  Almost  every  one  will  remember  instances 
where  men  and  women  have  sought  to  give  license  to  imagina- 
tion. Here,  liquors  and  drugs  become  a  necessity  to  drown 
the  unhappine(.s  winch  arises  from  determined  rejection  of 
those  promptings  which  indicate  the  true  gladness.  By  means 
of  such  temporary  neutralizers  of  unhappiness  the  man  kills 
himself.  It  is  always  suicide,  either  sudden  or  slow.  No 
process  of  reasoning,  nor  any  individual  experiment,  has 
evaded  the  old  truth  that  the  wages  of  sin  is  death.  We 
know  by  watching  the  approaches  of  this  deatli  that  it  is,  so 


-?r«iEi-'«ft**^^' 


74 


THE   ASCENT   OF   LIFE. 


li! 


far  as  we  hoc  it,  an  unlmppiness  so  int(»leiul)l(!  lluU  iiu'ii  try 
to  luiHteii  tlie  Olid  by  further  reckless  excesses.  TUny  iiavo 
confessed  that  they  "do  so.  What  this  kind  of  death  "means, 
in  any  possible  subsequent  condition,  we  do  not  know.  l\J 
the  despair  of  it,  during  the  visible  approaches  to  it,  is  sulli- 
cieiit  to  indicate  that  our  actions  during  our  sjtan  of  life  are 
of  the  utmost  importftiice. 

Sin  is  discord.  Unhappiness  is  discord.  That  whicdi 
removes  the  possibility  of  vibrating  with  the  incoming  glad- 
ness is  sin.  A  system  which  is  deadened  out  of  capacity  for 
the  health  vibrations  is  lik(!  a  plant  kej)t  in  darkness,  with- 
out water.  It  will  die.  Health,  both  physical  and  spiritual, 
ni(!ans  being  in  tune.     We  are  tuned  by  the  great  Musician. 

There  is  no  sudden  comj)uLsion  about  the  laws  of  music. 
If  discord  be  preferred,  or  if  it  seem  like  harmony,  then  hit 
it  be  tested,  by  all  means  !  Nature  does  not  prevent  this. 
It  is  the  sc.liem  •  The  world  is  controlled  by  laws  or  princi- 
ples which  immediately  inform  as  to  either  harmony  or  dis- 
cord. Where  all  is  vibration,  vibratory  laws  are  necessities. 
These  exhibit  the  perfection  of  gcnitleness  and  kindness ; 
with  no  aUolute  compulsion  in  tliem  at  any  time,  and  yet 
containing  a  terrible  alternative  for  those  who  become 
crazed  by  their  own  chosen  discords.  The  scheme  has  the 
stamp  of  the  zenith  of  wisdom  on  it.  Nature  is  no  police- 
man. No  one  is  seized  and  rushed  off  in  any  direction, 
either  up  or  down.  It  leaves  one  either  to  accept  harmony, 
or  to  depart  in  any  direction  to  construct  one's  own  Bedlam 
in  the  region  of  discord.  Niiture  does  not  prematurely  re- 
move the  discordant  one.     He  kills  himself. 

At  the  time  of  writing,  one  of  the  ablest  minds  in  Eng- 
land — a  mind  so  replete  with  logic  that  to  some  people  it 
has  almost  seemed  to  argue  away  the  necessity  for  religion 
—  is  at  the  threshold  of  the  madJiouse.  He  has  written  (in 
the  course  of  the  most  celebrated  controversy  of  modern 
times):  "I  do  not  see  what  materials  there  are  for  any 
religion,  or,  indeed,  what  would  be  the  use  of  one,  or  why  it 
is  wanted.  I  think  that  religion  would  die  when  theology 
(lied,  but  that  we  can  get  on  very  well  without  one."  This 
is  not  a  ciise  for  reply.  Nature  is  making  the  whole  reply, 
it  is  tt>o  terrible  f(U-  words. 

Keligion  is  not  a  series  of  intellectual  nuts  to  crack.  In 
its  first  stages  it  is  almost  too  simple   to  commend  itself 


THB  ASCENT  OF   LIFE. 


ir> 


t<)  iiiiiicls  which  lire  tniincd  to  lie  imlcMickfrs,  The  case; 
reiniiuls  of  one  huiiliiijj  for  tlic  sitectiU'lcs  which  luo  already 
oil  his  nose  -too  chwe  to  Ik'  seen.  Neither  can  it  be  (|uite 
properly  said  to  Iw  a  matter  of  "  jfivo  and  take,"  heeause  it 
is  nearly  all  "take."  Hut  the  better  men  are  so  constituted 
that  they  cannot  accept  continuous  gifts  witiiout  tryinj^  to 
make  some  return.  And  in  this  case  all  they  can  (lo  is  t(» 
utter  gratitude  in  song,  worship,  and  proper  guidance  of  life 
towards  the  unlimit(!d  wisdom.  It  is  tlu;  same,  on  a  nuich 
larger  scale,  as  the  love  for  wives.  For,  as  already  explained, 
a  woman's  seeming  nearness  to  the  soul  life  assists  man  to 
idealize  her,  and  tiuis  to  fi:el  the  mochssty  of  the  gratitude 
which  regrets  its  inability  to  repay  for  gifts.  The  marriage 
worship  leads  immediately  to  the  high(!r  worship.  It  is  part 
of  it.  For  this  emotion  belongs  to  the  spiritual  [)litnes  ;  and 
this  the  great  Kducator  teaches  through  the  channels  of  the 
passions  and  introduces  the  (perhaps)  first  reality  of  holi- 
ness through  entirely  natural  media.  It  will  lie  seen  that 
some  such  process  is  a  nec^essity.  For  unless  nature  ^could 
teach  religion  without  l)Ooks  and  priests,  then  religion  could 
be  safely  discarded.  It  is  more  ancient  than  books,  or  it  is 
nothing. 

This  imj)ulse  to  woi-shij),  which  gratitude  for  benefits 
creates,  is  not  yielded  to  because  any  power  needs  worship 
but  because  man  cannot  do  without  it.  This  coercive  ten- 
dency bolds  a  power  for  further  spiritual  development, 
lieeause  an  inner  soul  of  worship  is  the  hunger  to  prove 
worthy,  and  here  lies  a  medium  for  guidance  and  im|)rove- 
ment  in  the  further  siscents.  Necessity  for  woi-ship  is 
developed  in  advanced  nature,  —  almost  unknown  to  a 
lowest-grade  man,  though  not  to  a  high-grade  dog  —  dogs 
having  the  advantage  of  acquiring  it  without  the  faculty  for 
criticising  weaknesses.  This  hunger  to  prove  worthy,  which 
is  so  very  marked  when  dogs  worship  men,  has  not  as  yet 
been  discovered  in  the  cannibal  natives  of  interior  Queens- 
land, who  are  confidently  report(!d  as  exhibiting  in  them- 
selves no  sign  of  gratitude  even  after  many  gifts  and  pro- 
longed kindness.  This,  however,  does  not  deny  that  a  latent 
capacity  for  gratitude  may  be  present. 

The  ordinary  ideas  regarding  "  merit "  seem  to  require  con- 
sideration. Religion  is  a  holiness  vithout  merit.  There  is 
nu  merit  in  holiiicsij.     In  a  mother's  overwhelming  lovo  for 


iWMifeiH**»iH«i»B>it  <WHLi"»'  i»— Iftfty 


70 


TMK    .\S(  T.SI'   <>K    l.lli;. 


Mil 


! 


her  babe  ther«  is  no  merit ;  it  is  simpls  a  pbase  she  would  not 
alter  for  any  purchase.  .      .      .   ^    „• 

One  part  of  the  con.lition  of  holiness  is  the  mtmtive  per- 
ception of  the  illmuination  that  lies  hc-yoiul  and  which  leads 
with  pladness  toNvanls  wordless  perhntion  and  wisdom.    The 
happiness  of  the  assurances  of  this  phase  and  its  protecting 
sense  of  nersoual  consecration  create  a  sense  of  necessity  fo 
Tcontinuance   and  increase.     The  clouding  t«.;dericu,s  •> 
passions  are  avoide<l,  not  because  they  are  good  or  bad,  but 
because  they  are  a  nuisance.    They  were  proi.er  when  proper, 
but^eydo^lot  behuig  to  the   higher  --^--' -f^^^'-^ 
become  rudimentiuy  chrough  voluntary  disuse.     When    he 
80ul  is  alone  with  the  natural  Mnsieian  and  IH'^"  J^^or  the 
idea  of  merit  which  springs  from  comparisons  and  often  from 
ealousies  is  merged  in  tl.e  impulse,  to  seek  f-^l;"-dv-ice^ 
The  sense  of  holiness  arrives  when  it  is  allowed  to  ente.  ,  so 
that  the  first  requisite  of   man  is  to  remain  ""' ^une   J^J^ 
receDtive.     Much  of  the  prevalent  ideas  regarding  "  ment 
8  b'Slt  on  anticipation  of  a  Judgment  Day,  which  the  paying 
and  punishing  processes  of  nature  seem  to  re n a, v  unnecessary. 
Prt^te  have  made  "merit"  the  basis  of  many  different  pm^ 
chase  systems  of  which  nature  evidently  knows  nothing.    We 
Sma^n   inextricably  placed  in  the  midst  of  natural  prmci- 
Is  (?)  which  inevitably  repay  right  or  wrong  with  gladness 
OT  suffering.     And  when  he  rnust  either  be  wise  or  suffei, 
Ln  we  see  that  there  is  no  particular  merit  m  his  accepting 
an  unquestionable  necessity.     One  might  as  well  speak  of 
the  merit  of  eating  good  food  in  preference  to  bad. 

The  question  as  to  whether  this  or  that  is  good  or  bad 
is   swallowed  up    or   forgotten  in    tlje.f  sire    to    cont^^^^^^ 
the  greatest  necessity  an.l  happiness  of  life,     tor  this  result, 
much  that  is  permissible  in  social  life  and  which  is  called 
"  good  "  will  be  dropped  as  readily  as  a  great  deal  that  is 
ealled  bad.     When  the  ego  finds  any  quality  or  pursuit  to  be 
inconvenient  an.l  unprolilable  for  its  advancement,  it  ^  in- 
different to  any  name  that  may  have  been  given  to  it  by 
human   moralists.     It  simply  abandons  it  in  order  that  ite 
whole  system  may  be  in  that  healthiest  oi  all  conditions 
which  it  is  strung  and  tune.l  t.i  vibrate  in  unison.     The  soul 
hi    its  great   journey  cannot  afford    to  Ik3    hampered  with 
impedimenta. 


THR   ASCENT  OF    LIFE.  77 

It  will  Imi  seon  that  this  sonso  of  increasing'  liolinoss,  iiiirity, 
iiiitl  wisdom  wliirh  luiuls  tiio  t'jro  with  a  ghuliioss  tliiil  iniiivus 
(li'tiiictiiiiT  iiifliiciices  st'cm  almiird,  in  not  a  matter  whieh  can 
III!  (Icpntud  to  an  ajjent.  There  can  bo  no  sucli  thinjj  as 
\  ic.irioiis  ini|>roveni«'iit.  That  a!iy  soni  shonld  ^o  to  find 
through  the  suflVring  of  iinothur  is  a  wihl  idea.  In  religion 
matt  is  alono  with  nature.  Intcrcoui'se  with  others  will  be 
"  fmitful  of  good  life's  gentle  charities  "  ;  but  in  the  main, 
and  in  his  instruction,  he  is  alone.  Priests  are  uf^'^less,  for 
how  could  tluiy  assist?  —  except  perhaps  in  friendly  encour- 
agement. And  whii.  available  power  could  ordain  men  to  lie 
priests?  Every  man  who  will  oe  so  is  a  priest  of  the  temple 
of  the  spirit. 

Men  criticise  human  life  win  n  tlicy  find  that  nearly  every- 
thing desired  is  made  desiralile  by  ideals.  They  liiid  fault 
with  life  because  of  its  unreality  when  they  tiro  of  their 
deals,  aiul  tliey  angrily  say  that  life  has  no  facts  but  onl) 
mirages.  In  a  half-seeing-  way,  (Ik  v  are  right.  Hut  they  are 
ignorant  of  the  gn'ul  Irutli,  niinudy,  that  ideals  are  t/w  J'actx 
--temporary  ones,  of  course,  that  disaiiiiear  only  to  ma"ke  way 
for  better  oiu^s.  This  is  not  {\\cj'((iilt  of  life:  it  is  a  main- 
spring of  its  development.  It  is  a  scheme  of  natui(!.  Ideals 
must  be  improved  upon.  The  God  of  the  Old  Test  anient 
diffei-s  from  the  God  of  to-day  even  more  than  savage  music 
diffei's  from  that  of  Mozart.  If  man  could  anchor  himself  to 
any  thoroughly  satisfactory  fact  of  the  material  world,  then 
soul  progress  would  cease — Justus  the  hermit  crab  cliooses 
a  home  in  an  empty  shell,  loses  his  limbs  through  disuse,  and 
retrogrades  almost  to  the  level  of  an  oyster.  For  instance, 
no  one  has  defined  "  beauty,"  because  Iwauty  is  each  man's 
ideal,  and  consequently  must  alt  v  as  his  taste  refines.  The 
wearing  out  of  any  ideal  is  a  certain  sign  that  it  ha«  become 
unprofitable.  A  high  ideal  ahead  set;ms  to  be  a  fact,  and  is 
in  reality  a  factor;  but  an  ideal  whose  uses  are  completed 
joins  the  other  mirages  of  the  past.  Thus  human  life  —  its 
education  —  is  really  a  succession  of  improving  mirages. 
While  we  are  straining  toward  these,  we  call  them  ideals  and 
think  of  them  as  facta.  But  after  being  acquired  and  fully 
utilized  they  are  more  clearly  seen  tf>  have  been  part  of  the 
educational  processes  of  nature,  and  only  realities  while  their 
appearance  as  such  should  be  profitable.  This  is  nature, 
whose  teacher  is  delight.  The  winning  of  the  highest  is 
always  happiness. 


78 


TIIK    ASOKNT    OK    I,IFK. 


Hut  thf  iVA\nh\^  arc  not  siir.Tssfiilly  ivpcntcd  on  tl.r  natu.- 
.rm.l.'.     First,  til.-  winning'  may  U-  of  a  mother  s  cake  lor  a 
irno.l  cl.il.l;   U.en  a  ori/c  in  tieM  sports,  or  ;i  figl.t ;  then  a 
achool   i)ri/.e,   a   nniviTsity  nuMlal,   a    profe^.  .ional    snceess,  a 
woman,  an  election,  the  connnan.lin^r  or  the  .-    clnnR  ot  men; 
and  all  aloui'    the  whole  of  it   there  is  the    j.u.sc^  usness  of 
.omethinK  l>etter  to  he  won :  -but  not  on  the  same  grades, 
it  is  only  by  utt^mptei  repetition  r.a  the  soul  is  tired.     It 
,ie.  Kind'  advance.     It  is  entitled  to  enjoy  its  advance,  or  life 
would  he  :.  farce.     A   lui-k  rnsl'  fo,  experience  . —  the  view 
Inn'ondthe  animal  frmdesl-the   life   for  love  ot    wife  and 
cluldren!  —  to  know  the  In^vrt   wisdom,  and  to  yearn  to  be 
removed  for  further  advance  ! —and  then  the  human  part  of 
life,  or  (.ne  section  of  it,  is  over! 

Sneaking  vaguely,  LiKK  is  not  words,  but  emotions.  It 
is  intended  to  Ixj  a  series  of  happy  achi.- -menUs,  and  tlie 
soul  is  intcn.led  to  become  tired  with  repetiti(.n  an<l  to  recog- 
nize it  to  l.^-  unprolitab;  uiul  wearisome.  Ennui  is  a  lash. 
The  />/<'«^  luan  must  alwav^  l)e  unhapi)y.  Kven  mariiaj^e  liap- 
piness  cannot  continue  unless  it  be  woven  with  ever-re  in- 
inir  ideals  of  the  spiritual  life.  The  !;.,ison»,  and  the  so-called 
uiarriaKOS  which  are  based  on  passi.m  only,  have  no  more 
chance  to  endure  than  a  (child's  paily-clored  soap-bubble 

Thus  ideals  are  the  nearest  approach  to  tacts  in  lite  ;  but 
only  realities  (apparently)  while  they  are  being  used,  after 
which  thoy  join  the  mirages  of  the  past.  Consequently  the 
..nlyreal  fact  of  life  is  Cxod  —  considered  as  the  ultimate 

"^Whether  the  people  who  have  been  idealized  were  worthy 
or  unworthy  of  idealization,  is  of  very  secondary  nnporUuice. 
Their  value  lies  in   the  good  effects  produced  ni  Umse  who 
idealize.1.     Any  one  who  has  assisted  another  to    >«  ^^  1';    ^^ 
of  a  deep  frien.lship  or  love  has  accomplished  an  »"^^jl'  '^  '    ^^^ 
benefit,  irrespective  of  his  personal  reliability.     We   m  ist 
not  inquire  what  our  ideals  consisted  of -for  nothing  in  the 
world  is  substantial.     The  proper  source  of  S^^f^^^^J^ 
consideration  as  to  bow  they  have  helped  ns  in  \n^i  e  lucmg 
ou     higher  nature.     For  instance,  the  western  wald  owe 
a     enonuous  debt  to  the  Christian  ^-  '^-;"V";\  "'^•';;;^;;,  ! 
was  free  from  myth,  but  because  it  illustra  ed  the  human 
pU-itual  existence  and  tilled  myriads  of  minds  with  improv- 


l;! 


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THE   ASCENT  OP    LIFE. 


79 


ing  ideals.  The  revered  idols  and  images  of  pagans  and 
Christians,  no  matter  how  tawdry  and  bizarre^  have  done 
good  work  when  they  gave  rise  to  ideals  which  were  better 
than  previous  ones.  Many  idols  have,  at  times,  been  more 
improving  than  Yawveh. 

In  conclusion,  then,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  teini  "spiritual 
properly  means  one  who  passes  to  the  higher  grades 


man 


of  nature  — having  entered  life"  as  an  animal  and  as  such 
performed  its  functions,  but  progressing  on  a  continual  ascent 
of  ideals  (which  are  nature's  silent  instructions  of  the  soul) 
until  these  usual  gradations  of  improving  aims  and  incentives 
to  alert  endeavor  are  one  by  one  sought,  acquired,  enjoyed, 
utilized,  found  wanting,  and  discarded.  For  him,  life  be- 
comes divided  into  two  parts —  wisdom  and  absurdity.  The 
winning  of  a  boy's  prizes,  or  his  vows  of  devotion  to  a  golden- 
haired  schoolgirl  divinity,  are  not  now  necessary.  Yet  all 
such  events,  which  have  been  passed,  very  kindly,  to  the 
region  of  absurdity,  were  at  one  time  a  wisdom  for  him,  and 
he  is  aware  that  in  any  grade  of  life  the  energetic  seeking  of 
an  improving  ideal  is  always  a  wisdom  —  also  that  the  dis- 
carding of  it,  when  utilized,  is  a  further  and  more  advanced 
wisdom.  All  the  vanities  are  seen  to  have  their  proper  place 
and  due  succession.  Yet  life  must  advance;  and  he  objects 
when  Solomon  bewails  the  bitter  lees  of  his  exhausted  ideals 
instead  of  avoiding  the  ignoble  melancholia  of  suited  lust  by 
ascending  nature's  higher  grades. 

In  this  way,  and  while  understanding  and  sympathizing 
with  all  the  earlier  vanities  which  provide  nature's  instruc- 
tion to  the  young,  the  student  finds  that  the  terms  "  good  " 
and  "bad,"  while  never  lost  as  to  practice,  are  virtually 
swallowed  up  in  more  extensive  meanings  :  that  to  be  morally 
"good"  is  only  an  etcetera  and  adjunct  and  assistance 
towards  wisdom ;  also  that  "  sin  "  ranks  in  with  everything 
which  obstructs  the  way  towards  true  happiness.  The  hun- 
ger for  the  continuance  and  increase  of  the  internal  illumina- 
tion and  gladness  will  not  submit  to  obstruction.  Inevitably, 
all  else  is  for  him  an  absurdity.  Yet  he  sees  how  every  grade 
of  life,  and  the  advancing  years  of  every  individual  life,  all 
have  their  differing  duties,  functions,  vanities,  and  ascending 
ideals.  Thus  for  him  to  witness  the  pretty  natural  vanity 
of  a  young  girl  is  pleasing  —  knowing  that  at  her  age  one 
of  her  chiefest  duties  to  God  is  to  appear  at  her  prettiest  and 


immm 


80 


THE   ASCENT   OF   LIFE. 


sweetest,  and  attmct  her  lover  towards  marriage.  In  its  un- 
confessed  heart,  all  the  world  delights  in  the  vanities  of  a 
voune  girl ;  but  hypocrites  and  forgetful  old  men  have  said 
it  was  vvrong.  Spiritual  men  have  also  said  it  was  wrong, 
because  they  only  studied  themselves  and  not  nature,  and 
have,  like  Paul,  endeavored  to  force  the  necessities  ana 
ideals  of  their  own  high  spiritual  grade  upon  young  people 
who  were  almost  totally  unfitted  to  receive  them.  Happily, 
these  attempted  spiritual  anachronisms  have  in  most  cases 
failed,  to  some  extent,  and  the  unconfessed  convictions  of 
rightly-thinking  people  have  much  protected  the  young  in 
the  gladnesses  proper  to  their  years  against  the  crushing 
effects  of  wrongly-timed  spiritualities. 

Man  has  never  attempted  to  improve  upon  the  work  of  God 
without  creating  suffering;  and  every  human  being  hnds  out 
soon  enough,  in  due  course  of  years  and  experience,  that  many 
of  the  gay  pleasantries  of  early  days  inevitably  pass  into  the 
region  of  absurdities.     Yet  the  number  of  women  who  cUng 
to  these  as  the  only  good  of  life  is  peculiarly  large.     A  suf- 
fer ng,  a  despairing  sense  of  loss  as  physical  beauty  vanishes 
s  exp;iienced  by  the  majority  of  women.     Often  it  is  only 
shoiUived.     But,  with  many,  the  fii^t  sense  of  /«  j^^ ^'^^ 
comes  from  the  wisdom-religion  is  accepted  with  difficulty 
aH  glimmer  of  consolation.     When  they  find  that  the  road 
to  certain  desired  pleasures  will  be  forever  a  cul  desae,  the 
most  critical  period  of  life  arrives  for  the  ego  will  gnaw 
itself  cruelly  if  allowed  to  remain  self-inverted. 

Indeed,  the  most  prevalent  disease  is  a  «Pi"tual  one  -  the 
melancholia  which  at  this  time  refiises  to  be  comforted 
vet  makes  the  world  resound  with  one  long,  uncontrolled 
wailCsympathy.     In  some  form  or  other,  this  crisis  comes 
to  all  pe  P  e  who^avoid  the  spiritual  life  as  long  as  they  can 
Wh  uTnt^nded  schemes  for  the  happiness  which  a  natura^ 
life  demands  are  found  to  be  permanently  frustrated,  veiy 
many  p"op  0  have  to  face  one  of  two  futures,  na-ely  .^"^^^^^^^^^ 
r common  sense;  especially  so  when    );«y  «««!  ^^^^^^^^ 
have  been  in  some  way  cheated  of  their  life  s  nghte.     Many 
suicide  in  the  attempt  to  find  harmonies  in  the  region  of  <h^ 
cS  ;  while  otheLfin  the  apathy  that  succeed.  ™ore  or  le^ 
frenzv  accept  half-heartedly  the  gbmmer  which  leads  to  the 
iUnmination     Then,  afterv^ards,  they  know  the  happiness  of 
iSs  M^ier  ^d^s  and  smile  pityingly  at  Uieii-  former  dis- 


THE   ASCENT   OF   LIFE. 


81 


tress.  Every  one  will  remember  instances  where  human  lives 
underwent  extraordinary  changes  in  short  periods  of  time  — 
where  people,  especially  women,  who  had  for  years  idealized 
a  reiinement  of  most  everything  that  was  unspiritual,  became 
in  a  short  time  almost  unrecognizable  as  their  own  selves.  A 
shock,  a  grief,  a  separation,  an  illness,  or  perhaps  a  great  joy, 
and  the  woman  gains  a  glimpse  of  the  spiritual  life  whicli 
forever  afterwards  mak  .s  her  shudder  at  her  own  past. 

Now  these  things  have  nothing  to  do  with  book  religions, 
even  though  the  good  books  may  in  part  mention  them.    All 
these  matters  are  a  part  of  the  inevitable  processes  of  nature 
exhibiting  themselves  in  different  {ler^ons  in  different  ways, 
and  which  in  every  human  being  [)rov  de  new  duties,  func- 
tions, alterations,  and  aspirations  as  the  yi^^  advance.    And 
it  is  generally  througli  almost  complete'  misundei-standing 
of  nature  that  trouble  of  the  above-mentioned  kind  arises. 
Nature's  first  attempt  invariably  is  to  teach  through  delight ; 
but,  when  this  fails,  she  can  teach  equally  well  through  the 
griefs  and  despaira  created  by  ^vl•ong-doing  and  by  the  new 
comprehensions  which  thus  come  to  the  surface.     All.  pure 
joy  and  all  pure  grief  arrive  at  the  same  result,  namely,  the 
increased  sensitization  of  the  human  animal  soul,  witliout 
which  (as  elsewhere  explained)  it  cannot  be  a  part  of  the 
higher  grades.     If  this  were  not  so,  if  grief  had  any  other 
effect  than  this,  then  life  would  be  an  unjustifiable  burden 
placed  on  those  who  are  made  to  suffer  while  innocent.    The 
fact  is,  though  (as  can  be  vouched  for  by  unnumbered  peo- 
ple) that  the  real  rewards,  the  real  values  of  life,  the  internal 
peace,  the  light  that  brings  its  revelation  and  conviction  of 
gladdest  advance,  all  come  to  those  who  suffer  purely  and 
advantageously,  —  and  in  such  measure,  too,  that  they  think 
themselves  overpaid  for  their  sorrow.     It  is  a  fact  which  I 
suppose  every  one  is  prepared  from  his  own  different  experi- 
ences to  believe,  that  the  prisoner  wrongly  imprisoned  can 
be  happy  when  he  takes  command  of  himself   and  makes 
his  spirit  supreme.     These  are  no  fanfcisies.     They  are  the 
realities  which  provide  the  only  possible  justification  to  those 
who  suffer,  for  the  creation  of  a  world  in  whi( '-  they  have 
been  made  to  agonize,  but  in  which  and  by  whicn  they  gam 
the  peace  which  passeth  all  the  understanding  of  the  human 
intellect.      The  human  spirit  may  ho  ateolutely  supreme. 
The  grand  men  of  the  Bible  gave  praise  for  their  suffering. 


! 


82 


THE    ASCENT   OF   LIFE. 


The  martyrs  of  many  different  faiths  have  died  at  the  stake 
Rloriously  happy;  and  this,  not  hecause  the  statement  they 
died  for  was  always  coiTect,  but  because  in  the  time  ot 
supreme  travail  the  soul  knew  its  God  through  the  flames. 


9 
•  ♦ 


i  stake 
It  they 
ime  of 
mies. 


Chapter  VII. 


If  the  myrlada  of  other  worlds  around  us  were  not  visiblis 
nature's  continual  insistence  on  improvement  would  mon; 
frequently  Ixs  questioned.  But  the  telescope  suggests  much 
opportunity  for  employment  elsewhere.  There  is  a  great 
deal  of  happiness  in  the  world.  The  savage  on  the  animal 
gi-ades  finds  life  pleasant  as  long  as  he  keeps  as  well  in  tune 
as  other  animals.  Evidently  the  Zulu  will  not  be  seriously 
damaged  by  his  inability  to  become  a  member  of  the 
Reformed  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  or  even  of  the  Unre- 
formed  portion  (if  any)  of  the  same  sect.  Yet  he  is  subject 
to  the  same  universal  laws  as  we  are,  though  slightly  more 
in  subjection  to  the  fetish-man. 

There  is  no  potency  in  a  law.     The  ruling  vibratory  laws 
which  control  in  ways  similar  to  those  of  music  do  not  supply, 
iw  we  have  explained,  a  power  which  exerts  force  like  a 
policeman.     We  have  seen  that  the   product  of   sensation 
called  the  brain  has  only  utilized  its  correspondence  with 
the  all-knowledge  as  it  became  cognizant  of  its  own  sensa- 
tions and  wants.     All  evolution  shows  a  want  of  power 
(or  an  unwillingness  to  use  power)  in  regard  to  the  creation 
of  intelligence  and  wisdom.    Apparently  no  knowledge  has 
been  supplied  except  that  which  was  required,  or,  rather,  in 
a  manner,  demanded,  during  the  long  ascent  of  brain  devel- 
opment.    But  the  intended  results  of  the  long  process  are 
evidently  wisdom  and  individuality,  both  of  which  may  com- 
bine in  the  human  soul.     Nature  forcibly  suggests  that  su- 
preme  intelligence   cannot   (or  will   not)  reproduce  itself. 
The  reproduction  is,  therefore,  by  an  evolutionary  process  in 
which  the  all-knowledge    continually  assists  in  supplying 
demanded  information. 

It  has  often  been  suggested  by  religious  people,  that  man 
was  produced  to  eventually  rule,  or  assist  in  ruling,  other 


83 


■«.eiMWt^.<!4M>t«M«^*i«*lM 


iwiiiiJw'iiiiliiiiiiii^ 


84 


THE  ASCENT  OF   LIEE. 


worlds.     If  this  could  be  true  (and  it  is  only  mentioned  as 
speculation)  a  good  reason  for  evolution's  slow  proct sses  can 
b^  discerned,  because  the  soul,  which  is  the  storehouse  of 
memory,  never  forgets;  and  consequently  the  wisdom  whicli 
thus  reached  the  highest  grade  would  possess  in  its  memory 
ite  own  experiences  in  every  previous  plane  of   existence. 
Without  this  process,  the  necessary  wisdom  which  a  ruler  of 
a  world  would  require  could  only  be  conferred  by  meansof 
a  miracle,   which   is   evidently   unknown   m    nature.     We 
notice,  too,  that  the  only  sympathy  that  is  of  real  value  to 
those  in  lower  grades  is  that  which  carries  with  it  an  under- 
standing of  the  conditions  which  there  obtain,     bo  that  il 
any  pereonal  sympathy  be  required  in  a  ruler  of  a  world 
(which,  considering   the  kind   and  searching  efficacy  and 
scope  of  nature's  laws,  may  be  questioned)  it  is  clear  that  it 
could  only  be  acquired  by  the  advance  of  the  ruler  s  individ- 
uality  through  every  condition  of  existence. 

There  is,  however,  no  doubt  that  wisdom  and  individuality 
are  the  required  product;  and  if  we  must  sooner  or  later 
acquire  these  ourselves,  or  else  suffer,  it  seems  reasonable  to 
assist.  No  one  who  respects  himself  wishes  to  be  eventually 
unfit,  or  to  go  through  any  period  of  probation  which  might 
be  avoided  by  pei-sonal  effort  at  the  present  time.  The 
hunger  for  knowledge  as  to  all  that  pertains  to  life  will  of 
itself  be  sufficient  to  make  some  seek  any  condition  which 

'"  TheTnimal  nature  of  man  makes  his  assistance  difficult. 
Examination  of  results  of  Christian  conversions  shows  that  the 
maiorities  subsequently  oscillate  more  or  less  between  the 
two  planes.  Except  when  in  its  religious  phases,  the  human 
mind  pursues  its  ordinary  courses.  This  fact  has  led  nearly 
all  religious  men  to  say  that  "The  mind  of  man  is  at  enmity 
with  God."  But  there  is  no  enmity  m  the  matter.  It  is 
simply  that  the  animal  and  spiritual  planes  are  different  in 
erade,  and  that  as  soon  as  the  ego's  correspondence  with  the 
higher  plane  becomes  obscured  the  animal  mind  pui-sues  its 
own  coui-se,  which  may  or  may  not  be  hurtful. 

The  avoidance  of  fanaticism  on  this  point  is  desirable. 

We  read  that  "To  be  carnally-minded  is  death.       Ihis  is 

',   true,  as  we  have  already  shown,  when  understood:  but  Juo- 

tations  like  this  come  down  from  a  time  when  Adam  s  love 

for  Eve  was  supposed  to  be  the  first  outcome  of  the  sm  of 


THB  ASCENT  OF   LIFE. 


85 


med  as 

868  can 
juse  of 
I  vvhicli 
nemory 
istonce. 
ruler  of 
leans  of 
e.     We 
alue  to 
I  under- 
that  if 
a,  world 
icy  and 
r  that  it 
individ- 

iduality 
or  later 
nable  to 
entually 
;h  might 
le.  The 
8  will  of 
)n  which 

difficult. 
i  that  the 
ween  the 
le  human 
ed  nearly 
vt  enmity 
er.  It  is 
aperent  in 
with  the 
ii-sues  its 

desirable. 

This  is 

but  (j[uo- 

am's  love 

the  sin  of 


Eden.  They  also  proceed  from  men  who  knew  nothing  of 
the  fact  that  man  is  raised  to  spirituality  through  natural 
marriage  love.  They  come  from  a  time  of  the  densest  pos- 
sible ignoi-ance,when  men,  in  order  to  kill  out  passion,  lashed 
and  tortured  and  even  mutilated  themselves  — a  proceeding 
Paul  approved.  These  men  experienced  the  difficulties  ot 
continuing  on  the  higher  levels;  and  no  torture  or  stripes  or 
condemnation  could  deal  sufficiently  with  the  marriage  law 
of  God,  which  to  them  was  the  arch  sin  of  hell. 

Buddha,  on  the  contrary,  dealt  with  human  nature  in  a 
totally  different  way.  The  gentleness  of  his  treatment  of 
man  is  well  shown  by  Sir  Edwin  Arnold  in  Buddha  s  sermon 
in  "  The  Light  of  Asia  " :  — 

Spread  no  wings 
For  sunward  flight,  thou  soul  with  unplumed  vans  I 

Sweet  is  the  lower  air  and  safe,  and  known 
The  homely  levels;  only  strong  ones  leave 
The  nest  each  makes  his  own. 

Dear  is  the  love,  I  know,  of  wife  and  child; 

Pleasant  the  friends  and  pastimes  of  your  years;      ^ 
Fruitful  of  good  life's  gentle  charities; 

False,  though  firm-set,  its  fears. 

Live  —  ye  who  must — such  lives  as  live  on  these ; 

Make  golden  stairways  of  your  weakness;  rise 
By  daily  sojourn  with  those  phantasies 

To  lovelier  verities. 

So  shall  ye  pass  to  clearer  heights  and  find 

Easier  ascents  and  lighter  loads  of  sins, 
And  larger  will  to  burst  the  bonds  of  sense, 

Entering  the  path. 

Buddha  recognized  nature.  His  suggestion  of  the  evolu- 
tion of  all  life  from  the  lowest  grades  to  the  h^s^host  spiritual 
existence  was  profound,  though  vague  and  :  complete.  In 
some  ways  his  system  runs  parallel  with  the  la  ,o  discovenes 
of  western  science  in  regard  to  evolution.  The  scheme 
follows  on  into  the  advancing  grades  of  spirit  life  until  the 
reader's  mind  grows  dazed  with  the  magnitude  of  the  ideas. 
As  to  this  latter  part,  one  can  neither  praise  nor  bjame  — 
not  having  proof  of  its  truth.  One  can  only  say  that  the 
probable  parts  of  the  system  bear  the  stamp  of  knowledge, 
and  that  its  dealings  with  the  grades  beyond  man  are  at 
least  interesting,  however  speculative. 


86 


THK  ASCENT  OF   LIFK. 


Compared  with  this  exhihition  of  nature  s  plan,  which 
included  all  other  reliKiouH  and  all  individual  effort,  the 
Christian  system  is  like  some  village  aldermen  undertaking 
to  reRulate  and  arrange  the  affairs  of  Euroi)e.  llie  prom.i  - 
uatoiy  of  the  Christian  religion  were  spiritually  enlightened. 
They  saw  the  Iwauty  of  love,  compassion,  forgiveness,  and  of 
all  the  C^iristian  virtues,  just  as  every  other  man  who  is 
lifted  from  the  animal  life  mmt  see  them;  hut,  beyond  this, 
the  apostles  were  peculiarly  ignorant  and  incapable  of  deal- 
ing with  nature  in  an  educated  way. 

Since  that  time,  the  Christian  world  has  been  in  a  con- 
stant state  of  apology  for  and  avoidance  of  nature,  which  has 
heen  referred  to  as  base— though  admittedly  Iwautiful  in 
manv  ways.     Poets  have  been  allowed  to  sing  the  beauties 
of  nature,  but,  until  lately,  a  man  would  incur  social  disaster 
if  he  set  it  forth  that  carnality  was  a  part  of  God  s  law. 
Yet  we  see  that  with  a  view  to  producing  the  holiness  ot 
love  in  marriage  the  human  being  is,  to  this  extent,  urged 
by  every  alluring  device  and  disguise  of  nature,  towards 
exerting  a  force  which   lifts  man  from  the  animal  to  the 
spiritual   planes.      There  is  no  evading   the  fact  that  for 
the  production  of  best  species  and  general  development,  the 
whole  system  of  nature  is  dependent  on  this;  because  any 
force  exercised  must  come  from  the  creature  itself  —  nature 
in  this  respect  being  law,  not  force.     These  truths  are  un- 
pleasant  to  some  people;  but  the  unpleasantness  is  chietly 
the  result  of  continuing  the  ideas  of  those  medueval  saints 
whose  minds  were  so  diseased  on  this  subject  that  their 
lives  supplied  the  most  abhorrent  and  disgusting  portion  ot 
the  world's  history. 

No  idea  could  depart  further  from  the  laws  which  necessi- 
tate the  acquirement  of  wisdom  than  the  priestly  one  which 
connects  knowledge  with  sin— seeking  to  retain  an  ignorance 
in  othei-s,  useful  to  hierarchies,  under  the  name  of  innocence. 
Lovely  as  it  is,  innocence,  while  necessary  to  provide  for 
nature's  education  in  marriage  and  for  pure  ideals  and  happi- 
ness of  life,  is  usually  an  early  and  transitional  condition. 
In  mature  human  life,  innocence  is  superseded  by  rightr 
mindedness,  which  grasps  the  real  purity  of  full  knowledge. 
There  has  been  no  human   creativeness  without  passion. 
Genius  never  existed  except  when  passion  has  been  side- 
tracked into  pursuit  of  some  kind  of  creation.    It  has  been 


1,  which 
fort,  the 
lertaking 
!  proniul- 
ightened. 
iH,  and  of 
I  who  is 
ond  thiH, 
3  of  deal- 
in  a  con- 
wh\(i\\  has 
iutiful  in 

0  beauties 
i\  disaHter 
rod's  law. 
oliness  of 
ent,  urged 
>,  towards 
lal  to  the 
;  that  for 
ament,  the 
cause  any 
[  —  nature 
lis  are  un- 

is  chiefly 

Bval  sainte 

that  their 

portion  of 

ch  necessi- 
one  which 

1  ignorance 
innocence. 

jrovide  for 
and  happi- 
condition. 
I  by  right- 
knowledge, 
ut  passion. 
I  been  side- 
It  has  been 


THE  ASCENT   OK    LIFE. 


87 


this  power  for  desiring,  and  for  fonnng  it«  own  ideas  into 
the  consciousness  of  other  souls,  that  has  produced  the  mas- 
culine successes.  It  was  with  the  power  of  this  diverted 
passion  that  Shakespeare  forced  from  the  all-knowledge  the 
verification  of  liis  truths  —  incidentally  showing,  when  he 
fertilized  the  world  with  thought  and  left  his  brain-children 
as  his  only  ones,  that  human  beings  may  select  the  channels 
of  their  own  creativeness. 

When  nature's  system  seems  opposed  to  human  ideas  of 
morality,  it  may  safely  be  said  that  God's  ways  are  right  — 
seeing  that  nothing  is  true  but  nature.     It  is  at  this  point 
that  education,  and  the  thought  of  the  human  brain,  must 
assist  comparatively  ignorant  spirituality.     Because  all  the 
knowledge  a  sjjiritual  man  usually  seeks  in  his  soul  is  that 
which  may  assist  his  spiritual  development,  and  the  answer 
made  known  to  his  intuitions  is  and  must  be  invariably  the 
same,  namely,  that  the  conditions  of  a  lower  plane  are  un- 
profitable.    If  the  spiritual  man,  either  by  ordinary  education 
or  otherwise,  examined  the  past  he  would  realize  how  his 
general  comprehensions  needed  a  retrospect.     Parallel. cases 
would  be  parables.     He  would  see   that  some   conditions 
necessary  for  the  fishes  were  highly  unprofitable  for  the  am- 
phibians, who,  being  the  fathers  of  animal  cieation,  were  in- 
tended to  remain  on  land,  which  they  eventually  did.     It  is 
the  same  at  the  present  day. 

Buddha  was  no  fanatic.  He  knew  that  to  defy  the  effect 
of  a  thousand  ages  of  brain  building  was  what  few  men  could 
accomplish.  But  he  knew  that  to  the  spiritually-minded 
man  anything  which  clouds  the  capacity  to  receive  holiness 
and  wisdom  will  be  avoided  because  unprofitable  and  hurt- 
ful. In  this  way,  also,  he  deals  with  overeating  and  over- 
drinking. 

The  development  of  the  individuality,  which  is  man  s  chief 
care,  must  be  of  that  kind  which  continually  gives  out  and 
assists.  Throughout  all  lower  nature,  sex  is  different  both 
in  disposition  and  abilities.  But  in  marriage,  as  the  result 
of  the  one-ness  produced  by  unified  vibration,  the  most 
marked  mental  qualities  of  each  sex  begin  to  disappear.  In 
the  truest  marriage,  which  means  the  best  first  step  to  the 
spiritual  life,  the  man  assumes  part  of  the  nature  of  the 
woman.  The  most  perfect  man  is  he  who  has  a  large  por- 
tion of  feminine  qualities  incorporated  with  his  own.    Christ, 


I  ifiiiiihiMtfrlticinifii'^'^"^ 


88 


TIIK    ABCKNT   C»K    lAVK. 


Buddha,  St.  John,  and  nuUUn.  of  oUje.  j- ^;J|J^ 

this.     It  i«  the  Htaun.  of  ^»l'  J    ,  "  /  S  are  eli.ni.uited  in 

gavagory  and  annual  «"',"  f  T    a  u  rel  a  more  fennnine 

complete  marriage  ;  and  the  ma.  "««  ^  ^,  j  j^        juce 

susceptibility  in  '^p"^^."  ^'^e  dure  sul-H^  and  other 
compasHion,  sympat  jy,  '^^/\\\y  f'.  " '^"  ^  'J^,"  word,  he  is  sen- 
virtLpeculuuto     e^^  explained,  his 

^hui'  soul  hlX:;  uld.i:i  with  tVe  ^creased  vibraUon  of 
and  both  know  the  first  ^r^^^^*;"  "^  ^^"^  jj^^  '^Treed,  they 

strength  of  character,    of  which  ^^>«  f  ^^*  "^^^^^  ^f  it,  de- 

„ece»itie,  ««J^  ™  ^^sT^  *  ^1";.'" tl  i'n  either  »ex, 
woman's.    With  him,  lies  »^«  j    ^       marriage,  the 

n^f/ihu^c^^^^^^^^  *^«  -p-'y  t 

'"*^'  1  t^nnrhness  To  this  are  added  firmness,  capacity 
general  staunchness.   ^«  "'  .  .        ^^^  ^re  the  outcome  of 

'T  i'^'roTlul  ^Thf  f  a'dlt  impr^S^^^^^^  of  girlhood 
strength  of  soul.  ^^ '1^/*^^^=  j^^s  _  and  the  woman  has  be- 
disappears  -  at  least  ^^^^nd  friends,  society  and  religion, 
come  a  strength  for  husband,  t^™'  /i    because  she 

She  holds  to  her  <f  Vt:::„sf  the  rSon  of  the  heart, 
l,UevesinthecreeJ,b^^^^^^  Not  one  per 

I:r;^  S::^^  ^o"Z.:  the  vei.  papyn  Pf  the 


THE  ASCENT  OP   LIFB. 


80 


boen  like 
'iruDifuerie, 
niiuited  in 
)  funiiiiine 
h  produce 
and  other 
,  he  is  Hen- 
lained,  \m 
ibmtion  of 

iken  place; 
le  new  life, 
creed,  they 
irt«.  They 
jkgvound  of 
nk  that  na- 
n  that  God 
)ricst. 

wife  by  true 
the  husband, 
vife  acquires 
ro  to  make 
juirement  is 
je  of  it,  de- 

Throughout 
I.  With  the 
an's  seeming 
ly  less  than 
in  either  sex, 
marriage,  the 

capacity  for 
neiss,  capacity 
he  outcome  of 
y  of  girlhood 
voman  has  be- 

and  religion, 
y  because  she 
1  of  the  heart, 

Not  one  per 
stic  argument, 
irability  of  the 
r  papyri  pf  the 


Egyptian  Negative  Confession  from  which  the  Command- 
ments were  constructed  —  but  you  cannot  stop  her  from  going 
to  church.  Men  havo  Hneorcd  at  this  and  said  she  was 
stupid.  Not  HO.  She  is  light,  and  her  hai)pine88  is  saved  to 
her  because  she  is  not  blinded  by  brains.  The  devotee  of 
intellect  may  be  shocked  at  tlie  tliought  of  people  being 
"blinded  by  brains."  Yet  it  is  a  truth  that  they  are  so- 
one  of  the  most  extraordiimry  truths  in  existence  and  the 
most  difficult  one  for  brains  to  admit. 

All  that  has  been  said  of  the  holiness  of  marriage  love, 
and  of  the  extraordinary  change  and  interchange  of  nature 
which  it  produces,  will  go  far  to  exi.lain  the  damage  which 
results  from  the  opposite  case.  A  great  many  people  have 
sneered  at  religion  when  it  has  seemed  to  try  to  make  a 
church  ceremony  sanctify  one  part  of  life  to  the  exclusion  of 
the  other.  Pagan  men  have  said,  "If  nature  be  wicked, 
then  paying  a  fee  to  a  i)riest  won't  make  it  any  better. 
But  the  examination  of  the  soul  life  in  human  beings  and 
of  the  physical  and  spiritual  effects  produced  in  mesmeric 
processes  shows  that  the  instincts  of  religion  were  beyond 
doubt  correct.  Marriage  is  the  greatest  sacrament  of  the 
world  part  of  nature,  for  the  reasons  already  given;  so  that 
the  ceremony  will  probably  Ixj  always  continued,  although 

nature  knows  only  the  fact.  „    ,    .  .    ,     i^        i 

It  is  of  the  nature  of  love  to  exchange  all  that  is  best,  and 
we  have  seen  that  in  woman  it  is  a  passion  for  submission ; 
consequently  her  whole  nature  is  altered.  In  the  marriage 
holiness  and  love  the  wife's  character  assumes  the  sterling 
qualities  of  the  husband,  as  already  .lescribed.  But  the 
woman  of  the  streets  knows  none  of  this.  She  assumes  only 
the  brutal  qualities  which,  in  time,  will  always  make  her  a 
virago.  It  is  a  pity  that  the  subject  cannot  be  here  dealt 
with  more  explicitly,  because  it  is  only  in  understanding  the 
possible  fatefulness  of  the  mesmeric  effects  and  processes  that 
one  gains  the  more  secret  explanation  of  female  improvement 
or  degradation.  But  in  the  latter  case  and  on  such  an 
enormously  importtvnt  subject,  one  must  at  least  point  out 
that  that  which  nature  has  produced,  and  which  alone  can 
proceed  to  any  further  world  or  condition,  is  entirely  altei-ed 
in  its  nature.  In  such  a  case  the  human  soul  is  not  its 
original  self.  It  is  a  collection  of  the  brutalities  and  bestial 
ideals  of  low-grade  men.    The  Bible  called  this  "  taking  to 


mitmi,fiat^*i^'tiiAfi0^'i' 


11 


90 


THE   ASCENT   OF    LIFE. 


oneself  deviW  and,  f -f  Jj:i  ekcf '  Ihe^"^^ 
correct  in  idea  and  ^^^Jj^^^^/^^^aming  and  fighting  and 
^|t^rXrS»-iena.e  she  bears. 

She  is  a  nameless  museum  of  he U^  ^^^    ^^.^ 

The   above    P^^'^g^fX^^P^^^^  mastery  allotted 

blamed  than  men.     It  ^«  ^«\J^!;^^^  J  .^hen  love  is  present ; 
to  them  by  nature,  do  not  ^Ite^-^^ceP^;^         ^    .^^^J^^  ^.^.t   . 

whereas  women,  ^-f;^^^,:Zt^-S^^^-^  by  reason  of 

tXl^^;^^:^-^  t  S^  to  the 
The  feminine  perhotions  which  »«  3^"J°3v,  also 
addition  of  .nascnU,.  vrtue,  -^  ^Sf^TS'tories 
partly  found  in  girlliood,  "^  "'"' °  („„  i,a,e  been  pro-  _ 
Siwiieh  the  trif/-'''«Vj„SrfrTurice,tioii»,  ?hU 
dueing  noble  W-  ^AJ^^'^wn  in  nobility  of  feature, 
grandeur  of  ™'""7' „" !„  ^here  the  ideals  are  on  the 
is  impoesiUe  in  any  county  P„„ti„„,  and  a  di«et  proof 

SZ'eS'of  idrai:  rthe  emV   Jet^"Xf„1 

oi  yo-"*  XtdSSHy''u''re':'  ol-«  t  p  Je^rved 
woman.     The  in^^^v^^^^^  .  ,  •  ^  type  are  seen  among 

or  lost;  and  rare  f -"^P^.^^,^"^^^^^^^^^  Yt  is  also  far  from 

the  poor  women  of  the  L«"f°Y\ow   social   level   may  not 
true  that  youth  F«^^'l«««i^onj  1^    The  influences  of  the 

alterations  which  become  t«amfest  m  ^^^^^^J^^^^^^^^^^^  ^nd 
Some  slim,  fmgi^e  gul  marn  s  ^^^^^^^^^^^l^,  ,^  ,Vm 
stimulants.    This  mode  ^i  u  '^       ^^er  maternity  is 

80  huge  and  "^wieldy  that  her  appea  ^dowhood 

almost  pitiable,     ^^ejieragam  three  ye 
and  hard  times  and  she  may  ^^  as  ^Um  *s    J  ^^^^^ 

in  the  hands  of  - -°delli.g  sen  pto    ^s  hai^  y      ^    P^. 

than  a  woman  --^-'^^l^^Znl.ci.3.,  'she  immediately 
when   young  and  "fiicaieiy  i.  they  are,  m 

niirroi^  her  ideals  and  P^^;  cLngefeffrcted  in  the  uni- 
her  appearance -especially  the  chang^^^  ^^^   ^^^ 

ties  of  marriage  when  love  is  present,     xm 


it  is  rath«!r 
The  woman 
fighting  and 
tne  she  boars. 

in  are  more 
.stery  allotted 
e  is  present ; 
iriolence  must 
I  by  reason  of 
ion. 

obility  to  the 
heredity,  also 
ose  territories 
ive  been  pro- 
ceptions,  this 
ity  of  feature, 
Is  are  on  the 

a  direct  proof 
8  highest  type 
dghest  type  of 
)  be  preserved 
re  seen  among 

also  far  from 
evel  may  not 
fluences  of  the 
ble  women  are 
y,  with  happy 

B  extraordinary 
line  appearance, 
overeating  and 
B  her  in  a  form 
:ter  maternity  is 
ifter  widowhood 
girlhood.     Clay 
ily  more  plastic 
irit.     Especially 
ihe  immediately 
irhat  they  are,  in 
scted  in  the  uni- 
his  is  the  most 


Mli 


THE   ASCENT   OF   LIFE. 


91 


alterative  of  human  material,  and  the  writings  of  the  animal 
soul  or  spiritual  soul  upon  it  are  so  unmistakable  and  prompt 
that  one  may  here  become  aware  that  the  human  body  is 
scarcely  more  than  a  mere  apparition,  and  that  the  soul  life 
within  is  its  only  reality.  ,     .        ,    • 

Thus,   Buddha   describes    the   body   and    its    desires   to 
be  "  fantasies  "  —  as  well  as  every  wish  to  continue  in  the 
animal  life,  or  indeed  in  any  human  life.     The  more  care- 
fully life  is  studied,  the  more  correct  his  teaching  appears. 
The  chief  urging  of  his  system  is  the  acquiring  of  wisdom 
in  regard  to  life,  soul,  religion  and  all  things.      And  one 
does  not  proceed  very  far  without  discovering  that  religion 
consists  in  something  more  than  writing  the  names  of  saints 
with  capital  letters;  in  something  more  than  searching  the 
Hebrew  scriptures;  and  in  something  more  than  an  idea  that 
one  goes  to  God  by  claiming  a  certain  statement  to  be  true. 
One  also  sees  that  religion  is  not  to  be  viewed  as  if  from  a 
great  distance  and  prone  on  one's  face,  but  to  be  approached 
with  confidence  rather  than  timidity,  with  consciousness  that 
soul  wisdom  and  holiness  are  the  same  thing,  and  'with 
assurance  that  the  all-knowledge  has  always  been  waiting 
for  human  minds  to  seek  it  through  the  correspondences  of 
the  soul,  —  especially  when  urged  by  the  determination  of 
the  will.     It  will  be  seen  that  the  soul  life  as  ordinarily  led 
by  Christian  people  may  be  advanced  much  farther  than  it 

usually  is.  „      ,  ^  li. 

In  this  work,  remarks  have  been  confined  to  results  pro- 
duced and  knowledge  acquired  in  the  mesmeric  processes 
which  need  a  patient.  Nothing  has  been  said  as  to  those 
powers  (attributed  to  Buddha  and  others)  which  proceed 
from  dealing  with  one's  own  interior  faculties.  These  have 
not  been  here  mentioned  because  proof  has  not  been  fori^- 
coming  that  these  orientals  can  accomplish  what  is  alleged. 
But  touching  the  question  of  the  soul  faculties  an  account 
.  must  be  given  here  of  a  matter  which  occurred  on  the  day 
before  these  words  are  written. 

A  lady  arrived  from  a  distance  to  procure  some  legal 
advice.  She  has  been  known  to  the  author  for  a  number  of 
years  both  professionally  and  socially.  She  is  here  spoken 
of  as  a  "lady"  because  always  recognized  as  such;  but  when 
it  is  said  that  she  called  to  inquire  the  extent  of  her  own 
criminal  liabilitiy,  and  when  her  actions  appear  more  fuUy, 


-r 


n 


_;„-i.ifa  .  '  fii  i.itiiir'f'WTi""'"'' 


Llir  |"Vf*'  ii--'""'"-*^  Y  rMt-Hrrri^8«»^ 


im! 
I. 


li 


I- 


ii 


'ii; 


m 


92 


THE   ASCENT   OF   LIFE. 


t.     r*i«  f/^  this  rank  will  seem  open  to  question.    Yet  ladies 
tlety   petuar   thrngs   sometimes,   and   lawyer,    receive 

strange  confideuces.  ^  ^  ^^^^^.^      ^^^„  ^^^o  her 

It  seems  that  she  deare       ^g^^^^^  ^^^  ^ 

power.     Perhaps  ne  wcu»  woman  of  most  alert 

^„ticuto  -«.7'-«''e.eSL  of  wS"  .K«  ccceak  from 

she  sat  iost^^  *  ,        ^^        ^^t,  take  a  conveyance  and  go 
she  seemed  to  see  herseii  go  u    ,  seemed)  and 

down  to  this  man's  oftice.    ^e  was  out  ,^  j^ig  private  room, 
she  made  an  excuse  tojach  ^«  '^^^^^  i^.  ^  ^P  ^^^^^^  ^^^ 

took  from  It  a  pecuuai  y  .^  ^^^^  ^^,  ^  ^^^^^ 

*»rvSZLt.lt.tS;ftHa„  an,  oM^a^^^".- 

« r-^r '  n'ura  ruSrtaplio?»  t  *  xhu 

wide  awake.     It  maae  a  ^"'^  ,^  ^e  says,  she 

was  over  four  ^-^'^  ^^""^J^Zng^^^^^ 

dressed  and  went  mt^^^^^^^^^^  k-wing  what  would 

impulse,     ^^lle  entereu      c j  exactly  as  she 

happen.  Eve^^^^g  -c^^-^  ^ufd  thfpeculiarly'.olo^^ 
had  f««^^^*^«yi^t  drawer,  recognized  the  handwriting, 
rnt?uVS>r?^o"p?n\nd"read  it  ft  the  spot  indicated  m 

%trrequiring  advice  on  ot^^^V^^^^^^^'Z'^^ 
letter,  and  the  author  saw  i  .  ^he  ^";7P!i3ae  which  will 
mark  of  the  day  she  stole  it.  /^^^^f^^ Jff  ^he  client  uses 
certainly  ruin  the  happiness  «*  ^^ j^^X  so.  But  at  this 
it.     Of  course  she  was  f  ^vised  no^o  ^o  s^^^  ^.^^ 

^^"^^  ^'  t  do'    U^othen  me.:Xht  the  capacity  for 
urge  her  to  do.     J^J^^ /'J^^  ,  ,  one  because  she  appre- 

being  dangerous,  but  is  liked  ^>y  ^J^'^^^        ^j  ^^^^er .     The 
eiates  fairness  and  P^  The  publication  of 

r:^^,^tlSuent  time,  will  show  t^at  l^e  affair 


Tn1»|!i-l.fci«">"»'"'''  timtW 


Yet  ladies 
8    receive 

n  into  her 
ps  not;  no 
[iiost  alert 
iceals  from 
er,  because 
i. 

ir  brain  to 
ibject.     As 
t  and  hate 
ice  and  go 
semed)  and 
ivate  room, 
drawer  and 
ch  was  ad- 
at  a  certain 
overed  that 

try  thought, 
aid  she  was 
her.  This 
ihe  says,  she 
imed  sudden 
what  would 
actly  as  she 
iarly-colored 
handwriting, 
indicated  in 

ad  aloud  this 
ore  the  post- 
le  which  will 
lie  client  uses 
But  at  this 
her  hate  will 
e  capacity  for 
use  she  appre- 
manner.     The 
publication  of 
that  the  affair 


THE  ASCENT   OF   LIFE. 


98 


has  blown  over  and  that  this  story  is  told  with  the  clients 
consent.  She  says  smilingly  that  she  is  not  quite  s.inj 
whether  she  is  in  alliance  with  the  fiend  or  not  Visions  ot 
a  similar  kind  have  occurred  to  her  three  or  four  times  betoie. 
She  is  supei-stitious,  and  they  frighten  her. 

The  above  story  can  be  accepted  as  true.     The  authoi  has 
been  for  a  long  time  aware  of  this  faculty  which  she  possesses. 
The  occurrence  is  peculiar  enough  to  be  inserted  here;  and 
one  reason  for  doing  so  is  that  it  differs  from  all    he  mes- 
meric results  previously  related  in  showing  the  soul  s  power 
for  prophecy.     This  is  a  point  that  the  author  has  not  so  far 
dared  to  mention,  because  he  feels  that  the  truths  he  has 
drawn  from  his  own  experiments  in  mesmerism  may  have 
already  taxed  the  reader's  credulity  to  the  utmost      B^t  ()ne 
marvel  contained  in  the  account  is  its  showing  that  the  soul  s 
powei-s  for  acquiring  knowledge  maybe  P"*  ^"^o  action  by 
one's  own  concentrated  will;  and  this  is  exactly  what  the 
orientals  claim  can  be  done.     Without  this  power,  it  is  im- 
possible  to   suppose   that    Buddha   could    in   an   ignorant 
countiT  and  twenty-five  centuries  before  Darwin  and  Wal- 
lace   have  produced  the  stupendous  system  of  evolution 
which  now  claims  the  attention  of  western  science. 

The  above-mentioned  vision  of  the  client  *  was  certamly 
the  result  of  no  holiness,  but  of  a  hate  so  concentrated  and 
forceful  that  it  produced  an  effect  not  readily  undei-stood. 
When  the  soul  revelations  only  refer  to  existing  facts,  one  s 
own  experiments  compel  belief;  but  when  ^^  ««nies  to  seein^^^ 
all  the  details  of  a  morning's  trip  four  months  before  th^  r 
occurrence  then  we  may  well  stand  d»™bfo"nded  The 
account  also  shows  that  this  power  for  seeing  into  the  future, 
which  in  this  case  was  quite  unexpected  and  unlooked-for,  is 
Tne  which  no  doubt  could  be  educated  by  trainmg;  and  also 
that  it  need  have  nothing  to  do  with  holiness. 

Many  of  us  have  had  dreams  of  which  all  the  occurrences 
were  subsequently  enacted  just  as  we  «^;\  ^^^^^  "'on  vTo 
Two  of  these  are  put  in  the  appendix.  They  refer  only  to 
trinities,  but  they  exhibit  quite  clearly  the  soul's  power 
for  foreseeing  coming  events,  together  with  a  good  deal  ot 
trivial  detail      The  falling  of   an  apple  to  the  earth  is  a 

.  in  this  not..  ma.le  several  -on']|f,,,^^f„%Y,e  v^r|e'o?  Saclfon  ttreUTnalfv 
S;?rp  Wr .'^lWSr.ri;r^^^^^^^^  -,.    «..  «>«.«  very  .uot 

plcMed  wttb  the  tesult. 


;^^j*warj-,  Yf  rr  -limit  iji-m  '•'-i^tn-rmsMT!i  i.  ■  Aw"-- 


-f f'^rt^-ti  5^"*'iT''"'^-*'^^'^'-^^-™**''- 


94 


THE   ASCENT   OF   1>IFK 


trivial  occurrence,  yet  it  led  to  the  discovery  of  the  law  of 
gravitation :  and  these  unlooked-for  little  visions  which  view 
the  most  unimportant  matters  of  tlie  future  cannot  reasonably 
be  ignored  when  their  necessary  outcomes  in  showing  the 
abilities  of  the  soul  are  so  stupendous.  If  the  author  thought 
he  was  alone  in  such  chance  occurrences  he  would  be  silent 
about  them:  but  he  has  found  that  a  great  many  people  have 
known  experiences  that  are  analogous.  Perhaps  all  readere 
of  this  work  will  remember  facts  that  would  compel  them 
towards  inquiry  if  they  thought  any  one  could  make  answer. 
No  tests  of  the  prophetic  powers  of  the  soul  were  made, 
or  indeed  thought  of,  during  the  author's  mesmeric  experi- 
ments, and  he  does  not  wish  to  go  beyond  his  proofs  and  the 
deductions  which  arise  from  them.  But  while  acknowledging 
ourselves  to  be  totally  at  sea  regarding  the  subject  of  the 
next  few  paragraphs,  let  us  discuss  in  a  non-committal  and 
friendly  way  some  of  the  possibilities. 

Our  dreams  which  are  afterwards  reenacted  in  fact  dur- 
ing the  awake  condition,  and  such  visions  as  that  of  the 
client  who  took  the  letter,  suggest  that  under  some  condi- 
tions, or  when  in  some  way  forced,  the  soul  can  become  aware 
of  and  see  events  which  have  not  yet  happened.  The  author 
is  fully  aware  of  the  disfavor  with  which  this  statement  may 
meet,  and  it  taxes  one's  courage  to  print  it.  But  after  reduc- 
ing to  scientific  proof  the  soul's  power  for  knowledge  of 
any  event  occurring  at  a  distance,  we  may  in  a  non-committal 
way  regard  the  further  powers  of  which  we  have  not  at  pres- 
ent sufficient  proof.  In  any  case,  we  are  urged  to  seek  ex- 
planation of  these  phenomena,  which  in  minor  ways  are  of 
every-day  occurrence.  ,,,..,.,         . 

During  all  our  lives  we  have  considered  the  biblical  proph- 
ecies. Are  all  these  merely  the  records  of  impostures,  or  are 
they  something  more  ?  I  once  spent  some  time  in  a  fruitless 
search  along  the  shores  of  Galilee  to  discover  some  remains 
of  Bethsaida  and  Choi-azin.  The  prophecy  that  they  would 
be  lost  so  that  their  sites  should  not  be  known  was  correct ; 
and  it  seems  the  more  peculiar  from  the  fact  that  the  neigh- 
boring Magdala,  the  village  of  Mary,  still  exists  and  is 
called  Mejdel  by  the  Arabs.  Some  time  afterwards,  while 
bathing  in  the  Mediterranean,  near  the  modern  town  called 
Tyre,  I  found  myself  wading  over  a  large  number  of  round 
stone  or  marble  columns.     These  were  covered  with  sea- 


WEiLz 


THB  ASCENT  OF  LIFE. 


96 


jm  ■'MmMm.Miii.u<ja.nx<  .  'm'*mM   • 


weed,  but  they  could  be  felt  by  my  feet  and  traversed  from 
end  to  end.  They  were  doubtless  the  remains  of  ancient 
palaces  or  temples.  And  then  came  the  memory  of  the 
prophecy,    "  And  thou.  Tyre,  shalt  be  laid  in  the  midst  of 

%Tcour8e  it  may  be  suggested  that  Bethsaida  and  Chorazin 
were  known  to  be  on  the  wane  for  lack  of  business,  and  that 
the  action  of  the  water  on  what  was  then  the  promontory  of 
Tyre  had  been  carefully  watched;  and  that  the  character  of 
Buddha  as  related  by  East  Indian  caravan  traveller  at  Jeru- 
salem facilitated  the  prophecy  regarding  the  coming  of  Christ, 
we  may  say  that  Daniel  had  secret  priestly  information  con- 
Terning  the  approaching  enemy  when  he  foretold  the  annihi- 
lation of  Belshazzar;-but  this  continual  need  of  explanation 
is  a  little  tiring,  and  to  impute  intentiona  impo8tui;e  to  all 
the  grandest  men  of  ancient  days  is  offensive  to  the  instincts 

of  our  better  selves.  ,     ,   .        ^  „„  „«■ 

The  only  question  that  we  need  ask  is,  "Can  any  one  at 
the  present   day  accomplish  anything  similar  to  that  with 
which  Daniel  and  othei-s  are  credited  ?  "     If  80,  are.  we  justi- 
fied  in  asserting  that  the  biblical  prophecies  were  all  impos- 
tures?    Certainly   no  one   is   authorized,  from  a  scientihc 
standpoint,  in  crediting  mattei^  which  are  totaHy^^^^J^^ 
from  all  the  experience  and  intuitions  of  his  life.     The  case 
iust  related  of  the  client  and  the  letter  may  be  accepted  or 
not     This  point  demands  more  proof  than  is  in  my  own  ex- 
Derience  though  I  have  no  doubt  that  mesmeric  experiments 
^Zoon  8how^hat  the  patient  is  capabk  «fJoretelling  w^^^^^ 
will  happen  on  the  following  day.     If  this  be  proved  (and  I 
greatly  i^t  not  testing  the  point  when  I  had  the  opportu- 
nity) then  doubt  will  cease  to  be  reasonable  concerning  a 
Ssome  of  the  biblical  prophecies.     After  all,  this  result 
would  not  be  a  very  great  advance  upon  those  I  have  already 
obtained.     One  must  keep  one's  opinions  receptive      I  ride 
in  unshakable  opinion  is  generally  the  pride  of  a.fool.     I  to- 
tally disbelieved  the  story  of  one  individual  showing  anothei 
Se  kingdoms  of  the  earth  :  but  I  found  I  could  do  it  myself. 
Already  it  is  evident  that  the  results  obtained  by  the  force  of 
Sie  mesmerizer's  will  on  the  soul  of  the  patient  are  only  an- 
otheT  way  at  arriving  at  the  results  which  a  human  being 
±  hS  accompbsh  when  hu  o«,«  will  is  sufficient  to 
force  into  action  the  latent  abilities  of  his  own  soul. 


j-qBg9M!i;j,/iai,'-ijgsiifeag?;3iBi'*-*!Vn?>'S'  ~Ti 


;  'I  "^^tVl  -f%,>^f'^,-^iiX^!^ 


:.iafna.-i— aiWffffr 


96 


THE  ASCENT  OF  LIFE. 


A  good  many  of  tha  biblical  prophecies  were  issued  at  a 
time  of  the  intensest  anger  or  hatred;  and  it  was  in  just 
Huch  an  intensity  of  anger  and  hatred  that  my  acquaintance 
unintentionally  forced  her  sonl  to  reveal  in  vision  the  pro- 
3iC  f«"^-  ™«"^^'«  afterwards,  placed  two  families 

at  her^mercy.  No  one  who  has  not  lived  in  the  East  can 
conceive  of  the  intensities  and  fanaticisms  of  some  orientals. 
Tknew  a  Jewish  rabbi  of  Jerusalem  whose  name  wa«  Miz- 
rachi  He  was  an  exceedingly  good  man  except  in  his 
fanaticism,  and  he  abhorred  the  modern  innovations  in  the 
HetewTaith.  I  used  to  sit  and  study  him  as  in  a  mixture 
of  French,  Italian  and  English,  he  denounced  Christ  (whom 
he  called  Chreese)  as  "  all  lies."  His  deep-set  eyes  glowed 
and  burned,  with  ages  of  barbaric  fanaticism  in  them,  and 
h^  huge  mouth  grlw  terrible  as  the  power   of  the  man 

'^rmenttofthe  case  because  he  made  me  realize  the  awful, 
the  perfectly  frightful,  intensities  that  belonged  to  the  men 
0    Yawveh^*  in  the  ancient  biblical  times.     In  him  I  saw 
again  the  Jewish  bloody  wars  and  religious  massacres.     To 
me  he  was  gentle  because  I  had  done  him  a  small  service 
and  he  did  know  how  to  show  his  gratitude.     But  in  him  I 
understood  how  men  were  crucified  and  slashed,  how  the  r 
Sowers  weretm  out  and  the  rivers  ran  red  wdien  Yawveh^s 
supremacy  was   questioned.     I  saw  the   teinhc   power   for 
concentration  oil   one   idea   that   characterized   the   Jewish 
prophet.,   and  I  seemed   to   understand  why  no   confessed 
mophete  have  since  existed,  because  now,  in  the  diffusion 
Td  Station  of  careful  thought,  no  one  concen  rat^s  as  in 
former  times  when  the  entire  passions  of  splendidly  endowed 
r^en  were  focalized  with  an  awful  energy  upon  one  idea.     H 
™w  oTie  can  acquire  or  be  endowed  with  this  titanic  concen- 
Son  I  feel  sure  (in  my  own  private  opinion,  which  I  do 
not  ask  others  to  share)  that  he   too  can  prophesy       For 
there  is  clearly  no  miracle  about  it.     As  we  see,  people  de  it 
un'ntentio^^^^^^^^ ;  and  the  soul  does  it  automatically   (or 
ZaSrso/during  human  sleep.     We  have  already  seen 
Seveiy  invention,^eveiy  discovery  of  underlyng  truth  is 
nuta's  forcing  of  knowledge  from  some  principle  of  nature 

■oggett  the  proper  sound. 


ssgMifiiiiafsaiaixag-n'rT-i^ 


mmmfv^i. .11.1  -i^-u.i-JW^'i'J-' " . ■M'jjii.wa-'.' 


:imiifi!i»nit>Hi""'r''T""'"*' 


THE   ASCENT  OP  LIFE. 


97 


id  at  a 
in  just 
ntance 
le  prc- 
amilies 
iist  can 
ientals. 
IS  Miz- 

in  his 

in  the 
nixture 
(whom 
glowed 
m,  and 
le  man 

3  awful, 
he  men    ' 
1  I  saw 
es.     To 

service 
n  him  I 
ow  their 
'awveh's 
iwer   for 

Jewish 
lonfessed 
diffusion 
tes  as  in 
endowed 
idea.     H 
3  concen- 
lich  I  do 
sy.      For 
)ple  d«  it 
3ally    (or 
jady  seen 
r  truth,  is 
of  nature 

)  name  \rhlch 
111  gave  It  aa 
»  not  clearly 


which  awaits  his  demand ;  and  there  seems  to  be  no  reason 
why  he  may  not  do  so  to  a  very  unlimited  extent. 

Religion  and  the   power  to   prophesy  may  evidently  be 
quite  separate.     It  is  clear  that  there   is  no  necessity  for 
piety  or  holiness  in  prophecy,  but  only  conservation  of  vital 
energy  and  concentration  of  will  power.     The  prophets  who 
were  called  upon  to  curse  unpleasant  people  were  certainly 
in  no  pious  frame  of  mind,  nor  was  the  woman  whose  case  1 
mention.    Much  has  been  said  by  great  teachers  about  the 
abilities  of  those  who  have  faith.     But  this  does  not  mean 
faith  in  any  creed.     It  means  utter  confidence  in  the  suprem- 
acy of  one's  spirit  when  conjoined  with  its  higher  alliances. 
Napoleon  knew  no  piety;  but  his  enormous  will  power 
acting  on  his  soul  faculties  revealed  to  him  the  nature  of 
every  man  he  dealt  with,  so  that  every  man's  weakness  was 
harnessed  to  the  emperor's  triumphal  car.     George  Eliot  was 
not  orthodox ;  but  in  the  soul-verification  of  life  s  truths  she 
was  mighty —  deeply  religious  at  heart,  but  with  the  greatest 
ioy  of  life  crushed  by  science  —  the  best  example  of  what  is 
meant  by  people  being  "blinded  by  bi-ains."     Again,  the 
mighty  men  of  finance  and  politics  may  have   nothing  of 
holiness  or  piety.    We  see,  then,  that  all  these  people  may 
use  the  soul's  powers  exactly  as  they  like  and  for  any  pur- 
pose; and  that  the  processes  which  bring  about  the   great 
worldly  successes,  of  which  the  prophetic  power  is  an  un- 
developed branch,  may  include  a  vast  amount  of   sheer 
brutality  and  may  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  religion, 
which  is  the  sensitization  of  the  higher  planes,  and  leads 
through  gentleness  and  sympathy  to   the  higher  joy  and 
wisdom  which  will  always  make  the  aspect  of  the  latter  days 
of  a  Napoleon,  a  Voltaire,   or  a  Jay  Gould  seem  in   the 
highest  degree  pitiable.     The  partial  wisdoms  which  do  not 
seek  the  highest  wisdom  must  invariably  prove  Dead  Sea 
apples  in  the  end.  , .  ,    » 

We  must  also  ask  about  those  forebodings  which  from 
time  immemorial  have  warned  people  of  coming  danger.  It 
is  no  egoism  to  relate  a  case  in  my  own  life,  because  if  all 
people  ignore  their  own  proofs  we  cannot  obtain  a  collective 
view.  In  October  of  (I  think)  1875,  I  was  sailing  a  small 
yacht  to  Hamilton,  Canada,  and  at  sundown  fell  asleep  on 
the  deck.  About  nine  o'clock  I  suddenly  awoke,  trembling 
in  an  unexplained  fright.    The  yacht  lay  in  a  dead  calm,  the 


!ii!!,'l-U;jliHll-i-UJJM'l 


BTflJK-JMW'-i-"  WBSWff* "-  ■ 


98 


THE    ASCENT   OP    UIVK, 


night  was  pitch-dark  and  the  lamps  were  not  lit.  I  found 
that  my  friends,  who  at  that  time  were  novices  at  yachting, 
had  not  reduced  canvas,  and  I  hurriedly  lowered  the  large 
riiciiig  topsail  to  the  deck.  As  soon  as  this  was  done,  the 
ivorst  s(niall  1  ever  experienced  struck  ua  from  ahead. 
Luckily  we  were  able  to  lower  our  other  canvas  before 
complete  capsize,  and  the  boat  lived  through  the  night.  If 
the  squall  liad  caught  us  with  the  topsail  up  —  if  1  had  slept 
one  minute  longer — nothing  could  have  saved  us.  The 
"  Sphinx,"  another  yacht  of  same  size  as  mine,  which  in 
another  part  of  the  lake  was  proceeding  to  the  same  race, 
met  a  different  fate,  and  three  of  my  acquainUmces  died  of 
exhaustion  after  clinging  to  her  upturned  side  for  several 
days.  The  hired  man  was  i)icked  up  insensible  and  after- 
wards told  the  story.  Those  lost  were  well  known,  and 
Canada  remembers  the  disaster. 

Now  what  is  this  which  sends  a  sleeping  man  to  his  feet, 
trembling  with  apparently  causeless  terror?  It  saved  my 
life  and  the  lives  of  my  two  friends,  and  1  feel  my  right  to 
ask  the  question,  which  indeed  has  always  been  a  solemn 
one  to  me.  Can  it  be  referred  to  anything  else  than  to  the 
usually  latent  prophetic  power  which  lies  in  every  human 
soul  ?  The  internal  sentinel  which  never  sleeps,  never  tires, 
never  gives  wrong  information,  and  which  possibly  never 
dies,  must  be  considered  in  all  such  matters. 

These  things  are  not  more  mysterious  than  the  growth  and 
reproduction  of  our  bodies.  Different  channels  of  research 
lead  to  wide  differences  in  the  power  for  giving  credence. 
To  me,  knowing  nothing  of  mechanics,  a  trolley  electric  car 
is  the  nearest  thing  I  know  of  to  a  miracle.  When  that 
little  wheel  at  the  end  of  a  rod  draws  down  some  unseen 
power  from  overhead  and  hurries  three  carloads  of  people  up 
a  hill,  it  seems  to  me  to  throw  the  prophecy  of  Daniel  com- 
pletely into  the  shade.  But  perhaps  some  electricians  will 
find  my  experiments  equally  difficult  to  believe  in.  The 
fact  is  that  we  cannot  always  wait  until  Hodge  is  prepared 
to  agree  with  us.  Pleasing  as  is  the  approval  of  the  majori- 
ties, that  of  the  few  is  more  valuable,  and  it  must  be  admitted 
that  truth  is  better  than  either. 

In  this  region  there  is  an  infinitude  of  knowledge  yet  to 
be  discovered,  with  which  man,  if  he  will,  may  become  ac- 
quainted while  yet  in  this  life.     It  all  lies  within  the  legiti- 


THE   A8CENT  OF   LIFE. 


99 


mate  field  of  soieiice,  and  the  world  has  a  right  to  demand 
that  science  shall  extend  iUi  methods  and  not  stagnate  m  ita 
present  materialism. 

To  retiirn.  The  extraordinary  unification  of  natures 
which  takes  place  in  true  marriage  is  the  first  suggestion 
that  after  hunum  death  the  individuality  is  without  sex,  or 
at  least  without  the  sex  passions.  The  uses  for  these  are 
then  over  and  done  with.  Material  creations  demanded 
assistance  of  material  methods,  and  of  the  animal  forces 
which  could  assist  those  laws  of  nature  which  are  passive, 
instructive,  guiding,  and  which  influence  towards  the  general 
Intention  without  the  exercise  of  any  force  in  themselves. 
In  this  arrangement,  which  required  individual  effort  through- 
out, we  have  seen  that  guiding  laws  of  a  spiritual  world  con- 
tinually assisted,  in  the  same  way  that  one's  ear  for  music 
directs  us  in  reproducing  a  certain  harmony  — immediately 
informing  of  discord,  and  thus  compelling  obedience  m  a 
way  that  is  without  force.  ,     ,   ,       i 

Thus  we  see  that  music,  which  is  the  speech  of  the  phases, 
is  another  example  of  the  wordless  comprehensions  of   thb 
soul.    Some  of  the  best  musical  critics  do  not  know  one  note 
from  another,  on  paper.    The  appreciation  of  music,  one  s 
judgment   concerning   it,   is    entirely  a   question  of    soul 
properties  and  training;  and  the  man  who  has  the  most 
musical  soul  is  the  greatest  musician,  although  ignorant  of 
every  note,  on  paper.     Most  musical  critics  are  listening  to 
the  technique.     The  true  musician  takes  the  technique  tor 
granted,  if  he  can,  and  listens  to  the  composer's  message  — 
to  the  speech,  to  the  aspiration,  the  intention,  the  glory,  the 
soul  meanings.    It  is  the  same  with  painting,     tew  have 
time  to  study  the  technicalities.    This  leaves  the  rest  ot 
mankind,  including  the  most  idealistic,  outside  the  recog- 
nized ranks  of  art;  so  that  it  may  (although  without  proof) 
be  confidently  guessed  that  the  greatest  artists  are  among 
those  who  do  not  paint.    The  greatest  pictures  find  no  can- 
vas.   Indeed,  the  lack  of  ideality  and  interpretation  of  higher 
life  which  the  many  miles  of  picture  galleries  exhibit  is  very 

^^Until  the  passive  coercion  of  the  vibratory  laws  becomes 
appreciated,  it  is  impossible  to  comprehend  the  guiding 
powers  of  nature.      Various  writera  who,  perhaps  momen- 

LofC. 


:l    ; 


\   Y 


100 


THE    ASCENT   OF    LIKE. 


tarily,  iKJcame  poets  when  reiichiHg  down  into  their  souls  for 
truth,  have  recognized  the  existence  of  the  vibratory  guidance 
wliich  controls  without  force.  It  is  shown  in  a  part  of  au 
anonymous  sonnet:  — 

That  tliiiH!  own  realm  of  pence  I  too  miglit  share, 
Whcro  mil  lire's  Hniallesl  t!iiii),'s  show  much  (K-Hign 

To  teach  kind  tlioughtn  for  all  that  breathe;  and  where, 
An  music'' H  laws  compel  l>y  rule  dicine, 

Naught  hut  obeyiuy  yood  gketijoij  and  rest, 

George  Eliot  hovered  on  the  same  truth  when  singing  of 
the  lyre  of  Jubal :  — 

lie  made  it,  and  from  out  its  niensured  frame 
Drew  the  harmonic  soul,  whose  answers  came 
With  guidance  sweet  and  lessons  of  delight, 
Teaching  to  ear  and  hand  the  blissful  right, 
Where  strictest  law  is  gladness  to  the  sense 
And  all  desire  bends  towards  obedience. 

Many  have  circled  around  the  same  idea  without  bringing  it 
down  to  definite  shape,  while  Plato  suggested  a  system  which 
more  or  less  dealt  with  it,  but  in  a  vague  and  incoherent 
way. 

The  effects  of  these  passive  coercions  have  been  recognized 
from  the  earliest  times;  and  now  that  the  material  machinery 
for  the  production  of  intelligence  is  about  to  be  superseded 
we  are  haidly  justified  in  supposing  that  the  individualities 
which  have  been  in  company  with  these  gentle  systems  of 
guidance  for  many  ages  will  now  part  company  with  them. 
On  the  contrary,  the  vacillatory  and  unassured  condition  of 
the  human  ego  suggests  that  long  training  must  ensue  be- 
fore it  even  approaches  perfection.  To  suppose  that  a  sensi- 
tized man  now  passes  into  annihilation  at  death  would  be  to 
stultify  the  whole  scheme  of  evolution.  The  proofs  of  the 
spirit  life  would  mean  nothing.  The  idea  of  annihilation  at 
this  time  would  in  improbability  rival  that  other  notion,  that 
the  ego  will  be  transplanted  into  heaven  as  something  miracu- 
lously made  perfect. 

La  Rochefoucauld  wrote  :  "  La  faiblesse  est  le  seul  defaut 
que  Ton  ne  saurait  corriger."  After  a  season  of  listening 
to  silly  praise  or  blame  of  human  nature,  a  dose  of  La  Roche- 
foucauld is  sometimes  a  salutary  corrective.  There  is  truth 
in  what  he  sap  —  but,  also,  untruth.  The  brain,  being  the' 
product  of  sensation,  finds  it  ditticult  to  eliminate  customs 


THE   A8CKNT   OF    LIFB. 


101 


which  have  become  built  in  by  supplying  predominant 
amounts  of  Hensation.  Hut  in  the  spiritual  life  frailties  are 
not  cured  by  the  determination  tf)  root  out  the  noxious  men- 
tal weeds,  but  because  their  existence  becomes  obscured  and 
gradually  forgotten  in  the  general  strain  for  that  which  is 
more  desirable. 

La  Uochefoucauld's  proverb  indicates  his  limits.  Yet  it 
must  be  admitted  that  the  most  pitiable  history  is  that  which 
shows  the  vacillation  and  vagaries  of  the  human  mind. 
When  monkey-trainers  are  choosing  the  animals  they  intend 
to  educate  as  trick-performers,  they  only  select  those  whose 
attention  can  be  caught,  concentrated,  and  held  through  their 
curiosity.  Those  whose  eyes  continually  wander  are  dis- 
carded. The  curiosity  in  the  monkey  is  our  earliest  form  of 
scientific  inquiry.  In  ourselves,  this  is  called  a  God-given 
desire  for  knowledge.  The  phrase  sounds  well,  but  the  curi- 
osity of  the  monkey  was  and  is  the  same.  This  is  what 
Nature  hsis  striven  to  produce,  namely,  concentrated  intelli- 
gence. And  the  same  faculty  that  lifted  the  monkey  into  a 
man  is  now  intended  to  lift  man  into  a  still  higlier  grade.    « 

Further  processes  of  nature  may  in  some  way  effect  reali- 
zation of  truths  which  now  seem  dim.  But  spiritual  men  of 
the  Christian  religion  have  seemed  agreed  that  we  only 
receive  one  human  life.  This  is  a  point  on  which  a  good 
deal  may  depend.  And  when  all  knowledge  of  soul  and  of 
natural  law  indicates  that  the  individuality  must  be  advanced, 
it  seems  rather  absurd  to  run  risks  through  neglect. 

Life,  to  man,  is  a  question  of  values.  It  is  useless  to  put 
business  or  religion  on  any  other  basis.  No  one  will,  as  a 
rule,  give  up  a  pleasure  in  hand  except  for  a  better  one. 
Perhaps,  in  reality,  no  one  gives  up  "  a  fond  offence " 
because  of  the  idea  that  God  wishes  him  to.  No  one  who 
possesses  animal  courage  and  is  fond  of  the  animal  life  will 
gfive  it  up  by  reason  of  threats  regarding  hell.  The  fact  is 
that  such  a  man  snaps  his  fingers  at  hell.  Neither  will  any 
one  who  values  his  virility  and  his  ultia-masculine  indepen- 
dence accept  religion,  as  Sir  James  Stephen  says,  "  in  a 
yearning  after  some  object  of  affection,  like  a  woman's  love 
for  a  lap-dog."  If  the  religion  of  nature  did  not  offer  men 
pleasures  for  this  life  that  would  be  greater  than  those  which 
they  already  enjoy,  there  would  be  no  use  talking  about  it. 
Any  heaven  which  could  not  exhibit  itself  to  some  extent 


loa 


TIIK    ASCKNT   or    1,11'K. 


here  would  Hurely  »»e  nitluT  th.uUtful  of  it«  own  value.  Any 
iM.rtionH  of  iflijjions  wliicli  funiiol  vauUmv.  the  U-st  of  the 
WMise  of  iilwuidity  need  not  he  nirntioiied  to  scientilic  uuikIm. 
Hut  tlie  inteiniil  pronij.tingM  towanls  imtiiml  ivligu)n  are  an 
far  removed  from  eriticinm  aH  the  necessity  to  eat. 

Now,  it  is  these  courajjeous  nii'U  wlio  perhaps  have  fol- 
lowed their  animal  instinctw  deliantly  hut  honestly  —  men 
who  can  eonunand,  who  are  foremost  in  a  li^lit,  who  ean 
concentrate  with  a  mighty  purpose  in  their  wdl,  who  will 
smash  everything,  themselves  included,  to  have  their  own 
way— in  short,  it  is  evidently  men  of  individuality  and 
brute  force  that  the  kingdom  of  the  si)irit  seeks.  It  is  the 
men  whom  women  would  die  for  that  Ciod  would  live  for. 
Every  device  of  nature  has  lK*en  devoted  for  a  thousand  ages 
to  producing  these  splendid  creatures.  They  are  the  cream 
of  creation.  And  is  nature  to  he  unahle  to  hold  its  best? 
Are  its  places  of  command  to  l)e  lilled  by  weaklings  ? 

But  this  is  a  treatise  relating  to  exi)eriments,  and  is  not 

produced  except  to  indicate  the  way  to  exijeriments.     Yet 

the  approaches  to  the  spiritual  life  may  \ye  tested,  if  test  l)e 

desired,  as  carefully  as  any  other  alleged  panacea.     Sooner 

or  later,  these  big  men  will  feel  a  great  need  for  this  great 

medicine.      S(mie  will  say:    "You  put  it  fairly!    show  us 

these  extra  advantages  and  we  will  go  where  our  self  interest 

lies."     To  this  may  he  reified:   "  You,  too,  are  fair.     But 

you  must,  if  you  are  interested,  find  things  out  for  yourself. 

If  a  whole  volume  were  written  concerning  the  happiness 

of  the  spiritual  life  you  would  not  believe  a  word  of  it. 

Nobody  is  yearning  over  you;  no  one  is  approaching  you  in 

the  usual  uncomfortable  way  to  ask  'Is  your  soul  saved? 

Your  neglect  will  affect  nolwdy  but  youi-self." 

This  is  a  Iwok  of  experiments.  And  you  wish  to  experi- 
ment? Well,  then!  when  you  wish  for  rest  and  peace  and 
freedom  from  all  the  troubles  which  the  following  of  fan- 
tasies has  produced,  go  into  some  cathedral  or  church  where 
you  can  hear  grand  and  reverential  music.  Sit  alone  — or, 
better  still,  if  you  really  love  any  one  then  take  that  peraon 
with  you.  Let  your  mind  be  a  blank,  and  let  the  music  do 
the  preaching.  If  hymns  are  sung,  join  in  !  If  they  contain 
words  you  object  to,  never  mind  !  It  is  not  the  words:  it  is 
the  rhythm,  the  aspiration,  the  swell,  the  illumination,  the 
comprehension  of  the  great  Intention.     Let  your  mind  be  a 


THK  ASCIiNT  OK    l.ll'K. 

blftnk,  but  recfptivo.  (.ivo  way  1"  ilie  impicsHiniH  win -li 
thi)  luiisio  will  hiin^r  t„  yu(j,  If  you  ntv  u  yoiiiiK  niiiii,  ymi 
will  vt'iy  likt'ly  lnvts  ivrno  one  in  rt  >eveitMitiiil  ami  puiu  wiiy. 
If  HO,  tho  uiusio  will  luAf  you  feel  i.iiiil?-<l  anil  U^livv  lUl.xl 
to  bo  in  her  pivstjiict!.  H  y"»  •"ivo  brouoht  tills  person  with 
you,  iiuil  if  you  ntiilly  ciiiiJ  for  hor  in  tho  highest  WiJy,  you 
will  vnry  likily  foul  iliat  it  would  Ihj  a  liapi)iiu'ss  and  no  luck 
of  rovcronci)  to  bold  b«r  liand  wbilo  tlu;  uitl?.i';  plays  tlirouf?h 
you  and  niakos  you  think  that  lifo  <;ould  bo  nol)lo  and  per- 
fect in  her  presence.  Very  well!  lake  her  band,  by  all 
moans!  Tho  reliK'ion  of  (iod  desires  no  unhappinosH;  and 
your  reveri'iitial  delight  in  her  presence  indicates  exactly 
what  she  won  ntade  for. 

Now  this  sounds  like  very  foolish  reading.  Of  courae  it 
doo8.  It  needs  some  courage  to  print  it.  Words  are  an  en- 
tire absurdity  in  all  those  matters.  This  remark  has  l»oou 
made  rei)oatodly.  The  truest  hapi)ines8  of  life  cannot  be  re- 
duced to  words  without  some  ai)poamnce  of  absurdity.  The 
religion  of  (»od  has  no  words;  neither  at  this  first  experi- 
ment nor  at  any  other  time.  But  you  will  not  leave  the 
edilice  without  feeling  strengthened,  purified  and  uplifted. 
You  have  not  done  so  badly  in  the  fii-st  exi)eriment. 

But  suppose  you,  the  next  experimenter,  are  an  agnostic. 
You  have  felt  for  many  years  that  life  has  l)een  a  gloom,  and 
that  some  gladness  of  youth  has  gone  out  of  you,  and  that 
your  existence  points  nowhere.  You  have  ascrilwd  your 
gloom  and  painful  want  of  outlook,  to  increasing  years. 
You  have  felt,  somehow,  that  your  fine  intellectual  argu- 
ments are  Dead-Sea  ai)ple8.  You  are  so  utterly  wearied  of 
having  no  outlet  for  your  emotions  that  you  are  about  to 
sneak  into  the  temple  of  superstition  to  see  what  chance 
there  is  to  feel  the  old  swing. 

Weill  first  leave  your  admirable  intellect  at  bome.  Go 
down  to  the  cathedral  feeling  that  you  would  like  to  be  a 
fool  again  — a  glad,  happy  fool  —a  child  who  could  believe 
in  the  presence  of  God  and  delight  once  more  in  that  rush 
of  emotion  and  hoi^e  and  promise  and  certainty  vtrhicb  no 
pleasure  of  intellect  ever  equalled.  When  you  get  there, 
don't  try  to  believe  in  anything.  Listen  only  to  the  tones 
and  the  fervency.  Don't  let  the  preacher  annoy  you.  If  he 
does,  don't  listen  to  him.  B ut  let  the  organist  take  possession 
of  you.    Let  him  do  as  he  likes.     We  leave  you  at  the  door 


.  4 


In 

■■  n 


i£W*ir*ifiS*«;*n 


BiaiK3**!E-iV~'v5  ««*-« 


j  JMJilWHIWr.t"  lilTMiimnflfflffltir  "TT™^"^— ~" 


i- 


tn 


104 


THE    ASCENT   OF    LIKE. 


f 

is 


of  the  edifice.     Nor  will  we  speak  of  that  which  may  come 

tn«  tired  soul.     Onlv— dc.rt  criticise!     Be  a  child;  be  a 

ootiw  "you  likl- he  anything  except  an  intellectual 

agnosti^.     You  go  in  feeling  old.     You  will  con.e   3  at  feel. 

'"  No^  this  will  perhaps  be  said  tc-  be  undiluted  superstition. 
Very  well!  call  it  what  you  like!     Superstition  is  only  unsci- 
entii  science.     Nature's  proofs  are  its  results.     The   way 
to  God  is  happiness.     Achievement  is  happiness,     .h^  ad- 
vances   nto  Z  spiritual  life  contain  the  gladness  ot  this 
wid  and,  partly,  of  the  next.     True  science  and  true  re- 
SongWe  us  th^t  which  has  no  equal.    But  no  one  can 
learn  J  Ihese  things  by  words.     The  great  teacher  has  shown 
that  each  one  must  be  his  own  experimenter  in  that  region 
wh  re  the  weak  are  made  strong -whei.  the  passion  for 
wisdom  and  holiness  is  overpaid  with  gladness  till  «^e  ^an 
tesies  of  animal  life  cease  because  useless  and  forgotten  ;  till 
all  desire  for  even  human  life  has  passed  away,  and  the 
unquenchable  spirit  will  have  nothing  but  God. 


USES 


may  come 
lild;  be  a 
itellectual 
B   yit  feel- 

iperstition. 
jnly  unsci- 
The   way 
Th=*  ad- 
Bsa  ot  this 
id  true  re- 
10  one  can 
:  has  shown 
that  region 
passion  for 
ill  the  fan- 
Totten  ;  till 
,y,  and  the 


Appendix 


(References  from  pages  44,  50,  et 


Much  has  been  written  in  medical  works  concerning  the 
influences  of  the  parental  mind  upon  the  embryo  during  the 
period  of  gestation.  Subsequent  to  The  Arena «  publica- 
tion of  the  chaptei-8  to  which  this  part  of  the  appendix  retei-s, 
Dr  Sydney  Barrington  Elliot  published  a  valuable  paper  on 
"  Prenatal  Influence."  In  this,  he  produces  a  collection  of 
opinions  and  published  medical  cases.  His  kind  permission 
to  make  quotations  saves  me  much  labor  in  collecting  similar 
statistics,  and  I  reprint  with  pleasure  some  of  his  remarks  on 

the  subject.  . 

With  some  slight  alterations,  made  by  myself,  to  empha- 
size by  italics,  and  for  brevity,  he  says  as  follows :  —     • 

"The  term 'prenatal  influence '  applies  to  all  influences, 
physical,  mental,  or  moral,  which,  acting  through  the  parents, 
affect  an  unborn  child.  These  forces  are  not  active  during 
actual  pregnancy  only,  for  the  condition  of  both  father  and 
mother  during  some  little  time  before  and  at  conception,  helps 
to  determine  the  form  and  character  of  the  offspring. 

"Heredity  may  be  here  spoken  of  as  that  law  by  which 
permanent  and  settled  qualities  of  the  parents,  or  of  the  more 
remote  ancestora,  reappear  in  the  child;  while  prenatal  influ- 
ence may  here  be  held  to  signify  the  effect  produced  upon  the 
future  being  by  temporary  conditions  of  the  parents  m  the 
above  periods,  as  by  temi^orary  mental  states  (anger,  fear, 
happiness)  or  by  temporary  physical  conditions  (activity, 
health,  exhaustion)  of  a  part  or  of  the  entire  body. 

"  It  is  a  matter  of  every-day  note,  that  children  of  the  same 
parents,  born  within  a  few  years  of  each  other,  are  often 
totally  unlike  in  disposition  and  in  physical  attributes.  1  hey 
may  be  not  only  unlike  each  other,  but  unlike  the  parents 
themselves.  The  law  of  heredity  would  require  the  consti- 
tution of  the  child  to  be  made  up  of  the  personal  characteris- 
tics of  each  parent;  but  we  find  virtuous  and  well-meamng 


11 


106 


'I  ; 
ill  ■ 


106 


APPENDIX   "A. 


L^ 


parents,  with  long  lines  of  reputable  iincestry,  bringing  forth 
vicious  and  obstinate  children,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
ignorant  and  vulgar  sometimes  producing  children  that  are 
remarkable  for  special  ability  or  relinemeiit.  It  must  be 
aoknoivlcdged  that  some  forces  are  at  work  other  than  hereddi/,, 
aa  the  term  is  generally  understood. 

"  That  these  forces  which  modify  or  distort  hereditary  ten- 
dencies are  prenatal,  as  we  have  detined  that  term  above,  it  is 
our  object  to  prove.  Opinions  expressed  by  the  ablest  and 
most  acute  observers  among  the  medical  profession,  some  of 
which  we  quote,  lift  this  question  out  of  the  realm  of  old 
women's  notions,  and  place  it  where  it  demands  investigation 
by  all  who  presume  to  l)ecome  parents.  Cases  will  be  given 
in  which  the  state  of  the  mother,  her  emotions,  her  experi- 
ences, and  her  actions  have  had  an  undoubted  effect  upon  the 
child  she  has  borne;  this  effect  being  favorable  or  unfavorable, 
according  to  the  kind  of  influence. 

"  As  to  the  manner  in  which  this  process  is  carried  on,  there 
is  some  obscurity.  There  seems  to  be  a  subtle  sympathy  be- 
tween mother  and  child,  organ  for  organ,  part  for  part.  The 
child's  body  is  growing  rapidly  in  all  directions,  building 
material  is  plentiful,  and  the  energies  that  can  utilize  it  seem 
tireless.  If  any  portion  of  the  mother's  body,  whether  it  be 
an  intellectual  faculty  or  the  stomach,  is  either  continuously 
or  intensely  active,  the  same  portion  in  the  child  seems  to  be 
stimulated  to  increased  growth  and  power.  It  does  not  seem 
necessary  that  the  mother  should  possess  either  the  physical 
or  mental  power  that  she  can  produce  in  the  child ;  for  there 
are  many  cases  of  prodigies  in  physical  and  mental  power, 
the  mother  and  father  of  whom  possessed  no  such  attributes. 
Intense  or  continuous  effort  on  the  mother's  part  stimulates  the 
special  growth  in  the  child. 

"  The  manner  in  which  the  influence  is  produced  on  the 
father's  side  is  still  more  obscure.  The  child  acquires  not 
only  of  his  permanent  characteristics  (hereditary),  but  also  of 
his  temporary  conditions  of  mind  and  body  (prenatal  influ- 
ence), and  these  have  their  place  in  determining  the  char- 
acter of  the  offspring. 

"  Rokitanksy  says  (Path.  Anat.,  "Vol.  I.,  p.  2)  :  — 
"  The  question  whether  mental  emotions  do  influence  the  devel- 
opment of  the  embryo  (unborn  child)  or  not,  must  be  answered  in 
the  afSrmative. 


&it_  i.n  I 


^=Bi;w-*-     i.^ 


ing  forth 

hiuul,  the 

thiit  are 

viust  he 

heredity^ 

itary  ten- 
bo  ve,  it  is 
blest  and 
,  some  of 
m  of  old 
istigation 

be  given 
ir  experi- 

upon  the 
favorable, 

[  on, there 
ipathy  he- 
art. The 
,  building 
se  it  seem 
ther  it  be 
tiniiously 
sms  to  be 

not  seem 
I  physical 

for  there 
al  power, 
attributes. 
ulates  the 

id  on  the 
[uires  not 
)ut  also  of 
ital  influ- 
the  char- 


the  devel- 
iswered  in 


AI'l'ESDlX  "A. 

*♦  The  late  Fordyce  Barker,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  one  of  the  most 
eminent  physicians  in  America,  read  a  paper,  entitled  '  The 
Influence  of  Maternal  Impressions  on  the  Foetus,'  before  the 
American  Gynaecological  Society  (in  the  year   1886),   in 

which  he  says :  — 

"  Maternal  impressions  may  affect  the  development,  form,  and  char- 
acter  of  the  fa  tus.  *  *  *  Mothers  who  have  suffered  a  severe  fright 
when  advanced  in  pregnancy  have  given  birth  to  choreic  children. 

"  Dr.  Brittan,  who  has  given  much  study  to  the  problems 
of  human  life,  in  writing  of  the  '  Relations  of  Mind  to  Off- 
spring,' gives  the  following  as  his  idea  regarding  the  law  or 
process  of  embryonic  moulding  :  — 

"  The  singular  effects  produced  on  the  unborn  child  by  the  sudden 
mental  emotions  of  the  mother  are  remarkable  examples  of  a  kind  of 
electrotyping  on  the  sensitive  surfaces  of  living  forms.  It  is  doubt- 
less true  that  the  mind's  action  in  such  cases  may  iticrease  or  dimm- 
ish the  molecular  deposits  in  the  several  portions  of  the  system.  If, 
for  example,  there  exists  in  the  mother  any  unusual  tendency  of  the 
vital  forces  to  the  brain  at  the  critical  period,  there  will  be  a  similar 
cerebral  development  and  activity  in  the  offspring. 

"We  add  a  few  cases  of  prenatal  influence  compiled  from 
medical  literature.  The  truth  of  these  cases  is  undou'bted  ; 
and  while  proving  the  existence  of  prenatal  inllnence,  they 
establish  the  fact  that  impressions  of  a  more  favorable  nature 
have  only  to  he  made  to  have  favorable  results. 

"  The  prenatal  effects  of  war  and  like  disasters  have  long 
been  noted,  as  in  the  siege  of  Landau,  recorded  by  Baron 
Percv,  and  quoted  by  Carpenter,  Pinel,  and  others.  At  the 
siege"  of  Landau,  hi  Fiance,  in  1793,  there  was  .such  violent 
cannonading  that  the  women  were  kept  in  a  constant  state  of 
alarm.  In  addition,  the  arsenal  blew  up  with  a  terrific  explo- 
sion which  few  could  hear  with  unshaken  nerves.  The  result 
was  that  out  of  ninety-two  children  born  in  that  district 
within  a  few  months,  sixteen  died  at  birth,  thirty-three  lan- 
guished for  eight  or  ten  months  and  died,  nine  became  idiots 
and  died  before  they  were  five  years  old,  and  two  came  into 
the  worid  with  numerous  fractures  of  the  limbs.  The  history 
of  the  othera  was  not  followed  up,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  they 
escaped  without  injury,  though  it  may  have  been  of  a  less 

serious  nature.  . 

"The  results  of  the  French  Revolution  were  similar.  It  has 
long  been  noted  that  of  the  children  born  at  the  siege  of 
Antwerp,  a  large  portion  were  deformed,  and  many  were 
still-born. 


'!l! 


! 


108 


APPENDIX   "A. 


''  The  case  of  James  I.  of  England  is  a  curious  one,  and  is 
well  known.  The  murder  of  David  Kizzio  was  perpetrated 
by  armed  nobles,  with  violence  and  terror,  in  the  presence  of 
Mary,  queen  of  Scotland,  shortly  before  the  birth  of  her  son, 
James  I.  of  England.  The  liability  of  this  monarch  to  emo- 
tions of  fear  is  recorded  as  a  prominent  characteristic  of  his 
mind,  and  so  great  was  his  terror  of  a  sword  —  the  weapon 
with  which  Rizziowas  killed  —  that  he  would  shudder  at  the 
sight  of  it.  Sir  Digby  relates  that  when  King  James  con- 
ferred the  knighthood  upon  him,  which  is  done  by  laying  a 
naked  sword  upon  the  shoulder  of  the  new  knight,  he  could 
not  look  at  the  sword,  but  turned  his  head  away,  so  that  he 
came  very  near  putting  the  point  into  the  knight's  eye.  Sir 
Kinelm  was  saved  from  a  similar  catastrophe  by  the  duke  of 
Buckingham,  who  in  the  nick  of  time  guided  the  sword 
aright.*  Queen  Mary  was  not  deficient  in  courage,  and  the 
Stuarts,  both  before  and  after  James  I.,  were  distinguished 
for  this  quality,  so  that  his  disposition  was  an  exception  to 
the  family  character  and  due  to  prenatal  influence. 

»  Dr.  T.  A.  Martyn  *  gives  a  case  of  a  woman  who  was 
severely  burned  about  the  legs.  She  miscarried  in  six  hours. 
The  corresponding  parts  of  the  foetus  were  blistered,  and  had 
the  same  appearance  as  those  of  the  mother.  Among  other 
similar  cases  to  this  last  one  may  be  mentioned  those  reported 
by  Dr.  Hart  (Am.  Jour,  of  Med.  ScL,  January,  1881),  Dr. 
Niker  (^Obst.  Jour.  Gr.  Brit.,  June  15,  1880),  Dr.  S.  O. 
Stockslager  (Chieaifo  Med.  Jour,  and  Exam.,  May  23,  1881, 
vol.  XLIII.,   p.  313). 

"  Dr.  Fearn  cites  the  following  case:  %  A  mother  witnessed 
the  removal  of  one  of  the  bones  (metacarpal)  from  her  hus- 
band's hand,  which  greatly  shocked  and  alarmed  her.  A 
short  time  after,  she  had  a  child  who  was  born  without  the 
coiTesponding  bone  which  was  removed  fiom  the  father. 

"  Dr.  Dorsey  reports  the  follomng  case  :  §  Dr.  G.  sus- 
tained a  fracture  of  his  leg  midway  between  the  ankle  and 
the  knee.  His  wife  was  about  five  months  advanced  in  preg- 
nancy. When  the  child  of  which  she  was  pregnant  was  born, 
it  had  on  the  leg  corresponding  with  the  injured  limb  of  the 

*  A  (liscoiirse  made  In  an  asgembly  of  nobles  and  learned  men  at  MontpeUler,  France, 
and  rendered  out  of  French  Into  English  by  R.  White,  London,  1658. 

»  American  Journal  of  Medical  Science.  ,  ,    '    ,. 

t  Report  of  Med.  Assoc,  of  Ala.,  1860. 
§  Trans.  Med.  Assoc,  Ala.,  1850. 


e,  and  is 
rpetrated 
jsence  of 

her  son, 
li  to  enio- 
Ac  of  his 
i  weapon 
Icr  at  the 
imes  con- 
laying  a 
he  could 
)  that  he 
eye.     Sir 

duke  of 
he  sword 
!,  and  the 
inguished 
eption  to 

who  was 
six  hours. 
I,  and  had 
ang  other 
i  reported 
881),  Dr. 
Dr.  S.  O. 
23,  1881, 

witnessed 
I  her  hus- 
l  her.  A 
ithout  the 
vther. 
)r.  G.  sus- 
iinkle  and 
d  in  preg- 
;  was  born, 
inb  of  the 

)eUier,  France, 


Mi  itavm^^f^^"^'' 


AP1'EN1>IX   "A. 

father,  and  at  precisely  the  same  spot,  the  appearance  of  a 
tracture  of  the  limb,  and  there  Wivs  also  a  decided  shatteung 

'^  '  Dr.'Ldyce  Barker  cites  a  case  ||  where  a  child  was  bom 
with  hdes  in  the  lobes  of  her  eai-s,  as  a  result  ot  the  moth^i 
liinrholes  bored  in  the  ears  of  her  favorite  daughter.     Ihe 
„  Sr  Is  avei    to  the  daughter's  having  her  eai.  pierced 
and  it  made  a  decided  impression  on  her  ;  though  she  had  no 

Wlpa  her  babv  would  be  so  born.  

'^Puref^y  *  reports  the  case  of  a  woman  who,  when  about 
four  montS  pregnant,  tried  to  rear  by  hand  a  calf,  of  wh  ch 
Z  ritrht  ear  rieht  eye,  and  fore  legs  were  absent.  When 
the  child  was  bo?n  it  wa^  similarly  deformed  -  i.  e.,  nght  ear, 
riffht  eve,  and  right  arm  were  wanting.  . 

^"Rotht  gives  ten  cases  of  hare  lip,  one  case  of  spjnabif  da^ 
one  cte  ol  Lft  palate,  and  one  case  of  "^^ -"^^^^^^^ 
a  mother  in  each  instance  being  impressed  with  the  sight  ot 
BimUar  deformity.     The  time  varied  from  the  second  or  third 
month  till  well  on  in  pregnancy. 

"'"m.  A.  de  Frari4re^§  |ives  many  interesting  ca-sjher« 
neculiar  characteristics  in  animals  have  been  due  to  inHu 
Tee   exerted  on  the  mothei^  during  gestation,  and  he  holds 
Self  personally  responsible  for  every  case  he  gives. 

Since  t^e  above  part  of  this  appendix  was  prepared,  Dr. 
ElUot^bTok  called  i^  JildoBology"  has  been  f-warded  to  me; 
and  with  his  permission  I  give  a  synopsis  of  a  few  moie  cases, 
phosen  from  hundreds  quoted  in  the  work. 

Dr  Fordvce  Barker  *  tells  of  a  bride  who  while  stoying  at 
the  Gramercy  Park  Hotel,  New  York,  sat  down  at  a  table 
opuos^jn  gentleman  who  had  three  daughters,  all  with  hare- 
Ts  The^ung  wife  was  overcome  with  the  shock  wh  ch 
tWssiffht  occasioned.  The  case  is  reported  »"  full,  but  I 
condense.  When  the  child  of  the  young  married  woman 
was  born  it  had  a  harelip  of  the  same  kind. 

^he  same  pmctitioner  quotes  Dr.  McGuire,  Richmond  Va 
as  to  a  slave  cutting  off  one  of  his  great  toes  to  avoid  being 
^d^^Zth^^ 

II  Trans.  Am.  Gynsecol.  8oc.,  1886. 

•  Meil.  and  Surg.  Rep.,  May  31, 1881. 

disposition  Morales  et  Intellectuelles  ties  Enrants. 

•  Trans.  Am.  Oynsecol.  Soc.,  188C. 


' 1  ii-rii-    ri-^ — -^  ■^- 


gj.i.liyiriifiitriniT-nrrr'- "-'"'  "■■''  ^-^■*t-^-">'t»^^. -- 


110 


APPENDIX   "A. 


his  mistress,  who  was  then  expecting.     When  her  child  was 
born  it  lacked  the  same  toe.  ,    ,    .      .,    .  ,  • 

Malebranche  quotes  Gaharliep  *  as  declaring  that  his  own 
son  was  born  with  one  hand  distorted  and  dislocated  m  con- 
sequence of  his  mother  having  seen,  eight  days  before  her 
delivery,  a  man  with  his  hand  in  these  conditions. 

Dr.  Kerr  reports  the  following  case.f  The  little  daughter 
of  an  expecting  woman  fell  against  a  stove  and  was  bad  y 
burned  on  iace,  hands  and  arms.  The  mother  was  greatly 
shocked  and  frightened.  Three  months  afterwards  the  child 
was  born  with  blisters  in  the  same  places  on  its  body,  and 
resembling  those  caused  by  the  burns. 

Prof.  L.  NeugebauerJ  gives  several  cases,  including  one 
concerning  his  own  son.  He  had  hurt  his  leg  while  bathing 
_  having  it  torn  by  a  thorn.  His  wife,  then  expecting, 
dressed  the  wound  and  was  frightened  by  it.  The  boy  that 
was  born  afterwards  was  found  to  bear  a  scar  in  the  same 
place  and  of  same  shape  and  color.  ,     xu        i 

Malebranche  §  tells  of  an  expecting  mother,  who  through 
curiosity  was  led  to  witness  the  breaking  of  a  criminal  upon 
tlie  wheel.  She  shuddered  at  every  blow,  and  almost  swooned 
at  the  victim's  cries.  It  affected  her  for  a  long  time;  but 
later  she  recovered  from  the  fright.  When  her  child  was 
born,  it  was  found  that  its  limbs  were  broken  like  those  ot 
the  malefactor  and  just  in  the  same  Peaces.  "This  poor 
infant,  which  had  suff-red  pains  of  life  before  birth,  did  not 
die,  but  lived  for  twenty  years  in  a  Pans  hospital  — a 
wretched  instance  of  the  power  of  the  mother  in  altering  and 
distorting  the  infant  in  the  womb." 

Dr.  Minot,1T  of  Boston,  tells  of  a  lady  who  saw  a  man  in  a 
street  car,  sitting  opposite  to  her,  who  had  lost  all  the  fingers 
of  one  hand.   Her  child  when  born  had  one  hand  in  the  same 

condition.                                                  ,       ,    j               ^:„ 
Dr.  Bryden  11  cites  a  case  where  a  mother  had  seen  a  pic- 
ture of  a  child  without  a  neck  which  greatly  shocked  her. 
She  had  then  been  expecting  for  two  months.     When  born, 
her  child  had  no  neck.  


286. 


•  Recherche  de  la  verite. 

t  Am.  Jour.  ifed.  Scl.,  vol.  XXIV.,  p. 

t  See  "  MAtBologj,"  p.  33.  ^  „  .  „  „ 

S  Goldsmith's  "  History  of  the  Earth  and  Animated  Nature. 

%  Botton  Med.  and  Surg.  Jour.,  vol.  1870,  LXXXIIl..  p.  344. 

U  Med.  and  Surf.  Report ,  May  31, 1881. 


tks^ 


=!„iiiii'/iiiwi 


3»ie»a>iftn**a<»w" 


APPENDIX  "A. 


lU 


lild  was 

his  own 

in  con- 

[ore  her 

laughter 
as  badly 
greatly 
the  child 
ody,  and 

iing  one 
!  bathing 
cpecting, 
boy  that 
:he  same 

» through 
nal  upon 

swooned 
ime;  but 
jhild  was 

those  of 
riiis  poor 
I,  did  not 
ipital  —  a 
Bring  and 

man  in  a 
he  fingers 
I  the  same 

jen  a  pic- 
(cked  her. 
hen  born, 


I  have  now  quoted  enough  cases  for  my  V^-^n  \ht 
not  think  that  any  one  who  desires  to  be  mtome 
enormously  important  subjec   can  affoidt^^  ignore  t       l^^^^ 

of  Dr.  Elliot's  book  e^l^^V  timber?  of  embryotic  altera- 
hundreds  of  these  cases;  also  ^^"^^«^„°y Spent  kinds, 
tions  resulting  from  -ntal  imp^ess.on^^  ^/^  ^affecting 

including  those  '^e^^^^^*^.  ."..^^^^Cehiidre^^  References  in 
the  dispositions  and  -^;^^  ^^  ^^^^^.i^*^^^^^^^^^  contributed  by 
Lt  r  sir  ELtgMoVr  c^ebrated  doctor,  are 
not  to  be  questioned  as  to  their  good  fa^t^  ^.^^ 

I  „.ust  also  V-rt^;^^^X^l^:^^jL,  especially 

'"'''  Z  f othet^ive  btl^^^^^  mental  effort  and  con- 

enceinte  motliers,  na^e  uy  ""  nnminrr  children  while  they 

tinned  concentration,  altered  their  coming  ^J^^^^,     •    ^   J^ 

Reference    alao  to  those   oases    wi»  l         e       ,^  .^^ 

greatly  admired  ««f''".P'°*7X^teiTprSacmg  in  life 
theU-  bedrooms  —the  cWdjen,  «en  norn,  ^  ,  »  the 
the  figures  and  faces  which  '>»»  »tomped  themseiv 

before  the  pictures  of  the  V^>^^"-       .  the  parental 

mi^ir:nSj^'^r£^f-j-K 

dispositions  of  children  ^hiie  tney  are 
vade  the  whole  animal  ^mgdom,  and  ti^at  it  is^ 
narental  mental  impressions  that  the  evoiuuon  au    g 
Advance  of  all  animal  life  chiefly  depend. 


r 


rti  i7|-.-|Timrr^--1l"T  -"■<- 'rf.T-mmrM-,,,^  m.nri(llwltnmmn,tlt  »■  -  ■■ 


-- .tutaiaiMiTiiK 


crMCJOflif  r ^'""^  ^'■'>^'"-  ""*  ^^" 


1 


kh 


i'S 


i'l? 


ll 


112 


Al'l'KN'DIX   "A. 


As  to  the  impressions  that  would  be  prevalent  in  the  animal 
.niml  about  the  time  of  generation,  I  refer  the  reader  to  re- 
maiks  on  page  (oO)  whieh  show  how  such  evolution  mmt 
takc^  place  without  being  consciously  sought.  ,^     -      ,    , 

Whether  the  effects  here  exhibited  are  the  result  of  what 
Dr.  Brittun  calls  "  a  kind  of  electrotyping  on  sensitive  sui- 
^ce  of  livi..g  forms,"  or  whether  these  ateful  mental  pic- 
tures and  concepts  Income  a  part  of  a  spiritual  ego 
tran  missible  to  offspring,  matters  little  at  this  s  age  of  our 
knowledge  (or,  rather,  ignorance).  The  gain  made  in  know- 
ing that  these  processes  exist  and  control  generation  is  not 
reduced  in  it«  usefulness  by  the  fact  that  we  cannot  exp  ain 
the  exact  way  in  which  they  work.  Nay  the  truth  is  that 
the  p^cesses  involved  in  the  growth  of  all  living  things  still 
remain  as  riddles. 


ill. 


jtitttwtiurM* 


i  animal 

ir  to  re- 
jn  muiit 

of  what 
ive  siu- 
ital  pic- 
iial  ego 
e  of  our 
n  know- 
i  is  not 
explain 
I  is  that 
iugs  still 


Appendix  "B." 

(Reference  from  page  03  el  al.) 

nnuiNO  boyhood  I  one  night  dreamed  that  I  was  in  certain 
woodTn:a^r:;:.uto,  C^^;^^^  ^«-"g  on  J. 
ground  heard  a  noise  which  I  thougl       as  made    j 

did  not  know  what  «oldi^-8  they  were,     l  ^^^^^^ 

thing  ^^^\:^J''''l,:^^Jtr.VJT"e^^'^^'  tW' 

out  to  Canada  in  ■^""''^l™'"''.  °' .*'aream  wheT  they  came 
standing  at  the  ^^  '^J'^^,'^,  *  houTtherr  ho,^-    Their 


aiimSBuwaw*"^" 


ilttriaiftr'itriTai-rjiiiliij'^nrSfin-i-Y,'^ 


.1^ 


■f 


i.  I 


114 


APrnsDix  "». 


Tliey  went  into  the  field  and  drew  up  in  companies,  facing 
east.  The  inspection  proceeded  and  every  HUiall  detail  of 
tliat  dreuni  waw  lived  through  once  more  in  reality.  I  felt 
sure  of  what  would  happen  us  soon  as  I  saw  them. 


!■ 


m\ 


Ml! 


ies,  facing 
[  detail  of 
;y.     I  felt 


AVPKNDIX 


C." 


r 


States,  pculing  the  fi«  f^^  ^*'  ,,,,  inleresliug  enough 
Arena  magazine,  I  fouiul  '"'"^  ^/'f,,,^  an  extvaorainarily 

to  publiHl.  It  wa«  thus  "»»L^  ad  K  «'"--  «-'^'  "^^  '''''  "' 
large  number  o  peop  o  »^;«  ^'\';,«J  ,  take  this  opportu- 
vadous  ways  referred  to  m  t»''«J«''  ^  y  ^^,„  ^,„able,   for 

..ity  to  apologize  to  '"'^"y^^^^^^^  ^  ,n^er,  the  experiences 
lack  of  time,  to  answe.  ^  J-^'j;\,.,,  m.  D.  D;-  •»'-- 
in  mesmerism  of  MUlon  *>"""  .  j  wr  ling  almost  88 
was  bom  in  1807  and  is  at  '^'^^^  Z,,^^x,,:,\.n^.  that 
years  old.     His  handvvnt mg  m  the  c  .  ^^^^^ 

L  defies  time  very  ^^^^^ff^:  ^^t^  ^  work  pnblisi.ed  m 
1  have  with  me  the  record  o^^lf  "  ,^  jjew  York  Univer- 
1879.  He  g^?»^-t«^,  "7^^f\:CU  n,  and  I  fancy  still  is, 
Bity,  Barclay  St.,  in  1834.     f^^  ";».        \^  i^i^  experimetita 

of  his  yeai-8. 

NARRATIVE  OF  DR.  JARVI8.      NO.  1.     ^ 

.About  1845,  Fowler  t^eph^olog^^^^ 
to  deliver  a  lecture.    To  lU^tiate  tW^,  lo       .^^^^^^^^^^^      ^^ 

a  boy  who  was  very  ««f  ^.^^^  J  ',^,,7o«dition  and  ..btain  an- 
would  put  the  boy  into  ^^«  J^^"^^^^^  the  interest 

swers  from  him  that  were  c*^^"^'*^^^^^     ^f  the  audience  to 
in  the  lecture.     He  l;«" J^^^cd  «emDe  ^^^^  ^^.^^^     j 

see  whether  they  could  «»«;««^^  "^,?S^^^  I  did  not 

tried  another  lad,  following  Fowle^  8  m^^^^^^^       ^^^  ^.^^^^  but 

succeed  in  producing  J^  Thad  the  power  to  do  so  with 
enough  to  satisfy  me  that  1  had  tne  p 
p- a  guitable  patient.  ^ 


M'llIT  I 


mmtm 


■Oh 


ii'itwiTntin 


116 


An'KNIHX   »C. 


fi   ' 


m ! 


F      f 

f:  I 


i|  1 


■ 


|i ' 


"  Ronrding  with  us  wah  a  young  Unitarian  clergyman  by 
tho  name  of  (4ohh,  who  hud  alHO  uttuiuiud  titu  luctuteH.  After 
coming  liome,  lie  Huid  tliat  the  mesmeriHin  of  tiiu  \My  wim  Mill 
u  Hham.'  Rut  I  thdught  Gohh  himnulf  might  prove  tu  be  a 
good  Hubject,  and  he  consented  to  let  me  try  him. 

'*!  took  both  his  hands  in  mine,  looked  him  square  in  the 
eye,  concentrated  my  mind  upon  him,  and  kept  my  thoughts 
firmly  fixed  upon  his  going  to  sleep,  as  we  called  it.  In  less 
than  five  minutes  he  was  oblivious  to  all  surroundings.  • 

"  His  responses  were  much  more  prompt  and  energetic  than 
in  any  patient  I  have  ever  seen.  At  that  time  I  believed  in 
phrenology,  and  when  I  excited  in  him,  as  I  thought,  the 
bump  of  *  dcstructivencss,'  he  would  have  torn  his  clothes  to 
pieces  if  I  had  not  removed  the  influence.  He  seized  on 
them  with  the  mge  of  a  maniac. 

"  I  kei)t  him  under  the  influence  for  more  than  an  hour ; 
then  told  him  to  wake  up  in  Ave  minutes.  When  this  time 
elapsed,  he  yawned  and  stretched,  opened  his  eyes,  and  said, 
*  I  have  been  asleep.'  '  How  long?  '  I  asked.  He  looked  at 
his  watch  and  said,  *  An  hour.*  He  could  not  be  convinced 
that  he  had  been  in  the  magnetized  condition  until  he  ap- 
pealed to  my  mother  to  know  whether  my  statements  were  true. 

"  I  found  I  could  control  him  in  any  place,  in  any  audience, 
and  could  make  him  do  as  I  liked  ;  although  he  was  pecul- 
iarly sensitive  about  his  deportment,  and  recoiled  from  any- 
thing that  might  make  him  appear  ridiculous.  When  I 
wished  hira  to  remember  anything  that  happened  when  he 
was  mesmerized  I  had  only  to  say  to  him, '  Remember  that 
when  you  wake  up.'  He  would  then  retain  a  clear  recollec- 
tion of  it  all. 

"Many  tiifling  but  convincing  little  things  took  place 
between  us  which  have  passed  from  my  memory  and  which 
at  the  time  startled  me.  The  least  pain  inflicted  on  me  was 
felt  by  him  —  though  his  own  body  was  insensible  to  pain. 
H  he  was  pricked  with  a  pin,  he  did  not  notice  it ;  but  if  a 
third  party  pricked  me,  he  instantly  flinched  from  my  pain. 
Similarly,  he  did  not  know  when  burning  sulphur  was  placed 
under  his  nose  ;  but  if  I  took  a  sniff  of  it  he  immediately 
suffered  my  discomfort. 

«^  I  thought  that  Goss  might  be  clairvoyant ;  but  I  had  not 
yet  tested  that  faculty.  In  fact  I  was  as  much  amazed  at  our 
perfonuances  as  he  was.     We  both  began  to  grow  timid.     I 


Ari'KNUIX   "0. 


117 


rgymftti  by 
res.  After 
My  wiw  ♦  all 
ovo  lu  be  a 

uiue  ill  the 
ly  thoughts 
it.  Ill  leHii 
[iiigs. 

irgetio  than 
believed  in 
lought,  the 
clothes  to 
)  seized  on 

1  an  hour; 
tn  this  time 
H,  and  said, 
[e  looked  at 
I  convinced 
intil  he  ap- 
M  were  true, 
ly  audience, 
was  pecul- 
d  from  any- 
.  When  I 
ed  when  he 
aember  that 
tar  recoUec- 

took  place 
f  and  which 

on  me  was 
ible  to  pain, 
it ;  but  if  a 
im  my  pain, 
r  was  placed 
immediately 

lut  I  had  not 
nazed  at  our 
>w  timid..   I 


tliouffht, '  If  I  Kflt  him  into  this  Hloop,  and  cannot  restore  him 
U,  consciousiu^sH,  what  sliall  I  .1..?'  At  thm,  tiniort  l.o 
H«e»,  'd  to  1m'  a  porfi-ct  blank.  Kvciythiiig  but  life  hc'iikmI 
K.  h.ve  pasMt'.l  out  of  l.im,  and  1  Hhrauk  from  the  resp(«wi- 
Inlity  of  placing  iiiin  in  this  condition. 

»  Fowhr'H  loctuio  liad  created  an  excitement  m  our  iifigli- 
lK)rhooa,  and  it  soon  became  known  that  (Joss  was  a  good 
inesmoiio  subjoct.  People  wcio  anxious  to  have  us  give  an 
exhibition.  (loss  occasionally  preached  alK>ut  three  miles 
out  of  Canastota,  in  the  little  village  of  Clockvule.  llie 
citizens  gave  notice  that  on  a  certain  evening  they  would  have 
a  donation  for  Mr.  Goss'  benetit,  and  that  i  won d  be  there 
and  mesmerize  him.     The  news  spread  like  wild-hie.     llie 

house  was  filled. 

"  1  had  some  hesiUvtion  alM)ut  going.  A  near  neighbor 
and  intimate  friend,  wlio  was  expecting  to  be  confined,  no- 
tified mo  that  evening  of  her  approaching  labor.  However, 
I  wont,  and  at  about  eight  o'clock,  or  a  little  after,  I  put 
Mr.  Ooss  into  a  profound  sleep.  After  exercisiiig  him  tor 
some  time,  I  suddenly  thought  it  would  be  a  good,  time  to 
try  his  clairvoyance.  o-     ir 

"  I  said  to  him, '  Goss,  will  you  go  home  with  me  f      lie 

instantly  replied,  'Yes.'  ,     „,  „  .„       ,        i 

"I  took  hold  of  his  hand  and  said, '  Well,  we  will  go  ;  and 
I  fixed  my  mind  on  home.  He  pattered  his  feet  on  the  floor 
for  a  few  seconds,  and  then  said,  <•  Here  we  arel ' 

"  I  said, '  Do  you  see  mother  ? ' 

"'No.'  .     ,  ^  ,, 

"I  knew  that  if  my  neighbor  was  m  labor,  my  mother 
would  be  present  with  her,  and  I  was  startled ;  believing  that 
Goss  really  had  a  perception  of  what  was  taking  place  at  my 
home,  I  said,  'Who  is  there? ' 

" » Mary,'  he  said. 

u*  Well,  let  us  look  in  the  bedroom.'  He  stepped  once  or 
twice,  and  said, '  Well,  here  we  are  I ' 

"I  asked,  'Who  is  here?'  .     ,    , ,    a,i.  ^    ^    . 

" '  Your  father;  and  the  two  children  m  bed.  That  start- 
led me  more,  for  I  feared  that  my  neighbor  would  be  need- 
ing me,  and  that  mother  had  gone  to  her.  ,     „     ,         , 

''  I  then  said, '  Let  us  go  into  the  front  room.  He  stepped 
once  or  twice,  then  said, '  Here  she  is  1'  meaning  my  mother. 
That  relieved  me  of  my  anxiety. 


118 


APPENDIX   "0. 


\  I 


(( ( 


..  :E  'ri;'°gThr.,ea,.t.„  a„a  moving  the  .ndiroo,.' 

should  tell?' 

"I  said  'Yes.'  , 

:  T^  r.ta»rr5ng  w.  .ou„d  U>  U  %hly  in. 

rrSa^St  ri^n^  *rd  merfing  L  corseU,  and  the 

"Ti  was  frightened  at  my  power  over  M- Oo«-    All  these 
faculty  of  his  mind  that  was  being  utilized? 

NARRATIVE  OF  DR.  JARVIS.      NO.  2. 

u  In  1873  I  was  in  London  England     My  wife  a^^^^^^^ 
induced  by  a  friend  to  go  and  see  a  gul  who  was  saw  u, 

^TZT":i:":arr  XtST^a^ber  o,  nnpr. 

Mrs.  ociivis  »  p-papntlv  a  vounff  woman  came  in,  to 

tentious  appearance.     P^^^J^^^^y  *  J,      4e  took  a  seat  near 

Z,L  as  if  trvin"  to  catch  something  in  the  air.    •^"''''"i 


qy.^ 


APPENDIX  "C. 


119 


3  andirons.' 
iwishthati 

le  highly  in- 

b  of  the  ex- 
it it  into  her 
3  parlor,  and 
hearth  and 
he  was  naov- 
er's  came  in- 
hearth  clean 
aarried.  She 
ihe  did  move 

these  things 
;he  sweeping, 
sets,  and  the 
seen  by  him, 
a  said  at  the 

js.    All  these 

miles.     Was 

IS  it  simply  a 


ife  and  I  were 
0  was  said  to 

mber  of  unpre- 
an  came  in,  to 
)k  a  seat  near 
E)parent  change 
h  her  armB  and 
ftir.  Presently 
ant  home.   She 


described  it  as  accurately  as  she  could  have  done  if  the  house 
stood  before  her.     Then  she  began  to  describe  the  members 
of  my  family,   individually,  their  habits   and  dispositions. 
Amonff  them  she  described  two  individuals  whom  I  could 
not  recognize  -a  man  I  did  not  know,  and  a  girl  who  was 
unlike  any  member  of  my  family.     She  spoke   positively 
about  the  way  the  parents  and  children  conducted  them- 
selves  in  the  family  circle,  as  correctly  as  she  could  have 
done  if  she  had  always  lived  in  the  house.    She  seemed  to  see 
all  the  surroundings.    My  house  was  situated  on  a  knoll,  two 
and  a  half  stories  on  the  south  side,  and  three  and  a  half  on 
the  north.    She  described  this,  and  the  veranda  extending 
across  the  length  of  the  north  side,  at  the  second  story,  and 
a  Virginia  creeper  covering  the  entire  length  of  it.     bhe  saw 

it  all  exactly  as  it  was.  ^ ,    ,  ,    ,         •  •         t 

"  I  immediately  wrote  home,  saying  I  had  had  a  vision  ot 
home,  and  asked  to  know  who  the  stmngers  were  if  any  were 
there  My  daughter  wrote  back  that  my  vision  was  correct; 
that  the  visitors  were  people  from  Ohio,  whom  I  had  never 
seen.  Also  that  the  description  of  both  persons  was  pecu- 
liarly correct.  ^  j  ,.4.^ 
"  The  whole  thing  has  always  been  a  profound  myste^  to 
me.  What  was  it  that  made  nothing  of  the  Atlantic  s  three 
thousand  miles  and  beheld  my  family  and  its  surroundings  <• 


NARKATIVB   OF   DR  JARVIS. 


NO.   3. 


"  I  had  another  subject,  a  young  lady,  with  whom  I  exper- 
imented. One  day  she  had  "a  violent  toothache,  but  could 
not  make  up  her  mind  to  have  the  tooth  extracted,  bhe  was 
visiting  at  my  house  at  the  time,  and  some  of  the  family  pro- 
posed that  I  should  magnetize  her. 

"  '  No,'  she  said, '  the  doctor  will  pull  my  tooth  if  1  let  him 

magnetize  me.'  ,  1  ^         l    1.1.  „»„ 

"I  left  the  house  and  went  across  the  road  to  my  brother  s. 
After  I  left,  it  was  proposed  that  my  younger  brother  should 
try  bis  mesmeric  powers  with  her.  She  replied:  '  You  may. 
But  if  the  doctor  comes  back,  you  must  wake  me  up. 

"  This  was  agreed  to.  He  soon  put  her  to  sleep.  1  hen 
they  sent  for  me.  I  returned,  and  tried  to  converse  with  her, 
but  she  would  pay  no  attention  to  me.  I  then  told  my 
brother  to  ask  her  if  I  should  extract  her  tooth.  Her  reply 
was, '  I  don't  mind.' 


I'ifr'^'lrrr"-'^- 


^20  APPENDIX   "C." 

u  Knnwinir  that  the  tooth  ought  to  he  extracted,  I  tried  to 

back  tooth,  firmly  set.     i  ou^  »  ♦         titrhtlvset  and 

cep,  slowly  and  ^ '"'^JSt  hdd  a  E,,  S'told  her 
n^iroitre  H^a.  1«";.tt.ver  he  asked  o.  told 

"'lit  tl,e  bleeding  stopped  he  toU  her  to  wake  «P^^^^ 

^'^tt'nw  ^idtt'S:  h 'ffi^cserotrpres- 

°'7\^„:i^tesyo"^Sl^he^ThegirHellinthec^ 

said,  'Louise,  a»»»  J""  ^  j       moment  looked  angry, 

jty  where  *^  ^oth  1««l  been,  ana  »  __^    ^,^^^^ 

*'  tn'^'st  ^ri'^tl^ti  fto'tJ:"  ™v4«  *e  tn,nor 
surgeon,    bhe  PJT, "",,.  „utti„g  ^as  followed,  and  proved 

?^LSreryts^t:aJS.oSgh  the  operation  waa  rather 
a  delicate  one." 


1 


aianninB 


tried  to 
to  hear 
s  a  large 
kith  for- 
f  set  and 
told  her 
I  or  told 

ke  up  in 
:ecea3  out 
h.  Pres- 
,  and  ex- 
md  woke 

0  discover 
liet.  She 
in  the  cav- 
:ed  angry, 
3  pleased, 
oth. 

1  from  her 
the  opera- 
l,  she  told 
liad  been  a 
the  tumor, 
nd  proved 
was  rather 


■ 


' 


X 


*'' 


# 


'tttj'j^^.'T:-  '"*w^^'r.'"^'rgf]'-'^''!.-'f?-'^tiirff.J' "' 


